Thursday, 28 March, 2024
HomeWeekly RoundupLimpopo patient wounds nurse then turns gun on himself

Limpopo patient wounds nurse then turns gun on himself

A patient at the Polokwane Provincial Hospital shot and injured a nurse on Friday of last week before turning the gun on himself and taking his own life. News24 reports that this is according to Limpopo Health MEC Dr Phophi Ramathuba who said that the patient had arrived from another hospital on a planned patient transport vehicle for his renal dialysis when the incident happened. Ramathuba said that when the "planned" ambulances arrived, they were usually not searched.

She questioned why the referring hospital would have allowed a patient access to the initial facility and then the ambulance with a firearm. Police had told her the firearm was legal. "It means in future we will start searching patients on ambulances which becomes bizarre."

Ramathuba said in the report that it was not clear whether the man had come to the hospital to commit suicide. He was a chronic patient and she speculated he may have been in final stages of renal failure.

[link url="https://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/patient-shoots-injures-nurse-at-limpopo-hospital-before-killing-himself-20190823"]News24 report[/link]

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