By Maria Wiering
Twitter: @ReviewWiering
A confrontation between a Baltimore County prisoner receiving medical care and a police officer attending him Dec. 5 caused the officer’s gun to fire into a wall at the University of Maryland St. Joseph Medical Center in Towson, according to a statement from the Baltimore County Police Department. No one was injured.
According to the statement and the police department’s Twitter feed, the officer and prisoner were involved in a “struggle” over the officer’s gun, causing the firearm to discharge. Pepper spray was also involved. Investigators were responding to the incident, which occurred at 2:34 p.m.
The prisoner had been arrested for burglary, the Baltimore County police said via Twitter.
No additional details were immediately available.
“Thanks to the quick response of the Emergency Department staff and the UM-St. Joseph security team, the incident was resolved quickly with no injury to our staff or patients,” St. Joseph officials said in a Dec. 5 statement. “The police are continuing their investigation and we anticipate that may continue for the next few hours.”
The incident occurred in the first week after St. Joseph’s Nov. 30 sale to the University of Maryland Medical System from Denver-based Catholic Health Initiatives. Started by the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia in 1864, St. Joseph continues to operate as a Catholic hospital.
Copyright (c) December 5, 2012 CatholicReview.org