Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU) is investigating a shooting inside Northumberland Hills Hospital in Cobourg on Friday night (October 27) that left one man dead.
According to the SIU, the incident happened around 11 p.m. in the hospital’s emergency department, when Cobourg Police Service received a call for reports of gun shots inside the Northumberland Hills Hospital.
A short time later, two police officers encountered a 70-year-old man inside the emergency room of the hospital. The SIU have not indicated whether the man was carrying a firearm.
There was an interaction and both police officers discharged their firearms. The man was struck and later pronounced dead at the scene.
The body of a 76-year-old woman, later identified as the man’s wife, was also located at the scene. She had suffered a head wound. The SIU have not indicated whether the woman had been shot by her husband.
Due to the investigation, the hospital’s emergency department was temporarily closed, redirecting incoming patients to other hospitals in the area, but the emergency department has since returned to normal operations.
“Our staff and physicians are trained to deal with weapon-related situations,” says Linda Davis, the hospital’s president and CEO, in a statement. “While we hope that we never need to use this training, it proved very beneficial tonight. I want to thank our staff and our local police services for their fast and professional response.”
Davis says the hospital’s employee assistance provider was on site providing support to staff.
“Due to the ongoing investigation we are unable to comment on the specifics of what occurred in our Emergency Department last night,” Davis says. “What I can tell you is that the scene is secure and all current patients, caregivers, staff and police personnel are safe.”
The SIU — an arm’s length agency that investigates reports involving police where there has been death or serious injury — has assigned six investigators and two forensic investigators to investigate this incident.
The SIU is urging anyone who may have information about this investigation to contact the lead investigator at 1-800-787-8529. The unit is also urging anyone who may have any video evidence related to this incident to upload that video through the SIU website at www.siu.on.ca.
