KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A security guard sustained non-life-threatening injuries in a shooting at University Health Truman Medical Center Friday morning.
A person of interest is in custody following the shooting that unfolded around 8:39 a.m., according to Sgt. Phil DiMartino, a spokesperson with the Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department.
The person of interest was a patient at University Health Truman Medical Center, according to DiMartino. The security guard was in the process of escorting the patient out of the facility after being discharged when an altercation occurred inside near the ER area.
The person of interest then disarmed the security guard and fired one round, striking the security guard, according to DiMartino.
Other security guards were able to get the person of interest into custody prior to KCPD arriving on scene.
"University Health is grateful to our security team following an altercation with a patient that resulted in one of our officers being shot," the medical center said in a statement. "The team’s fast actions created the best possible outcome keeping staff and patients safe. The officer’s injuries are not life-threatening."
KCPD said this was an isolated incident.
“All of a sudden, all these cop cars just kinda start flying down the road," Ryan Laird, a nearby window washer who witnessed the scene, told KSHB 41 News. "Word going around was there was an active shooter so we had to go back inside. There was a lady that was very startled. I tried to comfort her as best I could and say, ‘Hey, these are professionals and they’re handling the situation. I guarantee your daughter is safe.’ She was very worried.”
“Her daughter messaged her at the time of the incident ‘I love you, we have an active shooter.’ And she worked directly here in the emergency room. Yeah, no, it was very intense I would say for her," he continued.
Laird said he and others who were nearby the scene retreated inside a building, and said police had the scene under control within 15 to 20 minutes.
"I want to emphasize, yes, this was thought originally in call notes that this could be an active shooter, this was not what would you think would be a typical active shooter scene," DiMartino said. "This was not a mass casualty incident, this wasn't someone coming in with the intent to hurt as many people as possible."
The scene is safe and there is no active threat to the community, according to the KCPD spokesperson.
The motive behind the shooting is under investigation.
This story is breaking and will be updated as information becomes available.
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