A group of nurses at Mercy Hospital in Coon Rapids, Minn., are undergoing testing after a patient repeatedly shot his blood at them using a syringe, according to a KARE11 report.
The patient, a 20-year-old man, was at the hospital for a civil chemical dependency commitment and had a visitor who nurses believe gave him a syringe filled with heroin. After the visitor left, the man started "acting erratically," according to the report, and he detained hospital visitor in an elevator. Nurses distracted him, allowing the visitor to escape the elevator, but then the man started using the syringe to draw his own blood and then shoot it at the nurses.
Many hospital staff members took shelter behind a safety area with protective glass, but the man continued shooting blood at them through small holes in the glass used for communication, according to the report.
The police eventually arrived, and the man has been charged with multiple counts of terroristic threats. He is also facing a felony charge of false imprisonment.
Hospital nurses are concerned about disease, since the man has a history of intravenous drug use, according to the report.