Police: 2 dead after apparent murder-suicide at Riverside hospital
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (WAVY) — A husband and wife are dead after an apparent murder-suicide inside Riverside Regional Medical Center, according to Newport News police.
On Sunday around 8:20 a.m., police were called to Riverside Regional Medical Center in reference to a shooting. When officers arrived, they found a husband and wife, both in their 70’s, inside a room on the fourth floor suffering from gunshot wounds.
Both were pronounced dead at the scene. Police said the incident appears to be a murder-suicide and they are not looking for any suspects.
The hospital was briefly placed on lockdown. Police said patient treatment was not impacted.
Newport News Police Chief Steve Drew stated he was proud of how quickly the staff acted during the incident, by sending out the alert and getting everything locked down.
“You never know what’s in someone’s mind,” Chief Drew said. “My hope is when they do the search, there may be some information, maybe something in written form or there may have been some statements to family members that will help us a little bit, determine why. I can tell you that everything we know at this point is there was no active anger or violence toward staff of anyone else.”
Newport News Mayor Phillip Jones issued a statement after the shooting. It reads:
“I am aware of the tragic incident that took place this morning at Riverside Regional Medical Center in Newport News. My condolences go to the families of the victims. On behalf of the City of Newport News, I send my strong appreciation to all those who acted swiftly, including the Riverside team and members of the Newport News Police Department. They continue to work together to provide comfort to patients and families and ensure the safety of the facility. We are committed to working with Riverside Health System to provide staff with the support they need.”
When asked about how a gun was brought into the hospital, Chief Drew stated, “that will be a conversation for another time,” adding that this was isolated to just the patient’s room.
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