Officer killed after a gunman took hostages at a Pennsylvania hospital
Authorities say a gunman entered a Pennsylvania hospital’s intensive care unit and took staff members hostage before he was killed by police.
YORK, Pa. — A man armed with a pistol and believed to be holding a grudge against health-care workers entered the UPMC Memorial Hospital’s intensive care unit Saturday and took staff members hostage before he was killed by police in a shootout that also left an officer dead, authorities said.
Three workers at the hospital, including a doctor, a nurse and a custodian, and two other officers were shot and wounded in the attack, York County District Attorney Tim Barker said. A fourth staffer was injured in a fall.
Gunfire erupted after officers went to engage the shooter, whom Barker identified as Diogenes Archangel-Ortiz, 49. He said Archangel-Ortiz was holding a female staff member hostage at gunpoint. Her hands were bound with zip ties Archangel-Ortiz brought into the facility when police opened fire.
“This is a huge loss to our community,” Barker said at a news conference following the shooting. “It is absolutely clear, and beyond any and all doubt, that the officers were justified in taking their action using deadly force.”
Barker said it appears Archangel-Ortiz had previous contact with the hospital’s ICU earlier in the week for “a medical purpose involving another individual” and he intentionally targeted the workers there.
No one answered the door Saturday at an address in York believed to be that of Archangel-Ortiz.
The officer who died was identified as Andrew Duarte of the West York Borough Police Department.
“We all have broken hearts and are grieving at his loss,” West York Borough Manager Shawn Mauck told The Associated Press.
Duarte was a law enforcement veteran who joined the department in 2022 after five years with the Denver Police Department, according to his LinkedIn profile. Duarte received an award in 2021 from Mothers Against Drunk Driving for his work in impaired driving enforcement for the state of Colorado.
“I have a type A personality and like to succeed in all that I do,” his LinkedIn profile said.
Duarte also worked as a patrol officer in Denver. He was highly regarded for his work and was close friends with other officers, the department there said in a statement.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro called the attack on police and health-care workers “the act of a coward.”
“Let it not be lost on anyone the act of extraordinary bravery and courage by the health care workers here, by the law enforcement professionals … who ran toward danger to keep people safe,” Shapiro said.
State Attorney General Dave Sunday, in a statement, offered condolences to the family, colleagues and friends of the slain officer, who he said was answering a mutual aid call when he was killed.
“Today, I join all Pennsylvanians and the county of York in mourning the loss of community hero and dedicated public servant Officer Andrew Duarte. We are also praying for the quick recovery of those who sustained injuries in the incident,” Sunday said. " Such violence and trauma in a place dedicated to hope and healing is unimaginable”.
The shooting was the latest in a wave of gun violence that has swept through U.S. hospitals and medical centers, which have struggled to adapt to the growing threats. Over recent years, attacks like the one in York have made health care one of the nation’s most violent fields, with workers suffering more nonfatal injuries from workplace violence than workers in any other profession, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In 2023, a shooter killed a security guard in the lobby of New Hampshire’s state psychiatric hospital before being fatally shot by a state trooper. In 2022, a man killed two workers at a Dallas hospital while there to watch his child’s birth.
In May of that year, a man opened fire in a medical center waiting room in Atlanta, killing one woman and wounding four. And just one month later, a gunman killed his surgeon and three other people at a Tulsa, Okla., medical office because he blamed the doctor for his continuing pain after an operation.
Inquirer staff writer Rita Giordano contributed to this article.