Driver drops off gunshot victim at hospital, flees after hitting victim and 3 nurses with his car, police say
Four people were injured after a driver dropped off a gunshot victim at a University City hospital and then struck the wounded man and three nurses before fleeing the scene, Philadelphia police said.
The driver took the man to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center shortly before 4:30 a.m. on Saturday. Police said a silver Jeep pulled up to the ambulance bay outside the emergency room; a 28-year-old man who'd been shot multiple times was inside the vehicle.
The nurses, a 37-year-old man, a 51-year-old man and a 36-year-old man, were all struck by the Jeep before it fled the scene. All four people are all being treated at Penn Presbyterian and the youngest nurse is in critical condition.
The Jeep driver was described as a man in his early 20s. Police said Sunday that the car was located eventually located on the 6800 block of Walnut Park Drive in Upper Darby, but investigators are still looking for the driver. Anyone with information is asked to contact the department at 215-686-TIPS.
Police are still investigating the shooting that injured the passenger in the Jeep, but believe it may have happened overnight on the 1300 block of Belmont Avenue, about a 10-minute drive from the hospital.
The hospital is in City Councilmember Jamie Gauthier's district. She was "horrorstruck" to hear the news, she said in a statement.
"I am praying that all three nurses make a full and speedy recovery, most especially the one who remains in critical condition. I also commend the emergency room team for continuing to care for their patients while dealing with this traumatic incident," Gauthier said.
She also noted that Penn Presbyterian is the only Level 1 trauma center in West Philadelphia and that health care staff there are "on the front lines of the gun violence crisis."
"Every day they come face-to-face with gruesome pain and suffering to care for us during the most traumatic moments of our lives," Gauthier added. "It is unfathomable to me that someone would drive their car into our neighbors charged with healing."
A spokesperson for Penn Medicine said the hospital is providing support to the injured nurses and their families.
"In a workplace where teams are devoted to caring for others, this incident is devastating to our staff, and is a reminder of the tragic, far-reaching toll of gun violence on entire communities," the spokesperson said in a statement. "Violence against health care workers harms us all, and is a corrosive, unacceptable threat which our staff must cope with on a daily basis. Our heroic staff continued working to save the gunshot victim and care for all our other patients even as their own colleagues were suffering and being treated."
A police spokesperson said the shooting victim is believed to be in critical condition. He may have suffered a head injury from being struck by the Jeep.
The ambulance bay at the emergency room was blocked by police tape for several hours but reopened around 7:30 a.m.