WASHINGTON — Reston Hospital Center is open and operating normally Wednesday, but police are investigating an overnight shooting incident.
Police responded just after 1:30 a.m. after a 52-year-old Loudoun County man with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the upper body couldn’t get into a hospital building entrance, and fired a shot to get in.
“He gets out of his car in front of the hospital and attempts to gain entry to the hospital. He finds the doors locked, so he apparently fires a bullet, a round at the glass doors, breaks the doors, gains entry into the hospital,” says police spokesman Don Gotthardt.
“Once inside, he encounters hospital personnel who immediately realize he’s in need of medical attention. When they go to render aid, he displays a handgun again and fires another bullet inside the hospital. Fortunately, that did not hit anyone.”
Hospital personnel quickly convinced him to give up his handgun.
Gotthardt says the man was then stabilized and taken to another hospital for treatment and evaluation.
The man had tried to get into the Pavilion II entrance to the hospital, not the emergency room entrance.
Gotthardt says police are continuing to investigate.
“The detectives are trying to complete a comprehensive perspective of the entire situation,” Gotthardt says.
“Obviously, the man’s medical condition is paramount.”
Once the entire situation is understood, police will determine whether to charge the man, who has not been identified.
WTOP’s Neal Augenstein contributed to this report.
