POLICE OFFICER KILLED, 5 INJURED IN PENNSYLVANIA HOSPITAL SHOOTING AFTER HOSTAGE STANDOFF

ISTANBUL, Feb 23 (Bernama-Anadolu) -- A police officer was killed Saturday after responding to a shooting at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) Memorial Hospital near Harrisburg in the United States (US), State of Pennsylvania, where a gunman took several hostages and injured at least five people before being fatally shot, Anadolu Ajansi (AA) reported. 

West York Borough police officer Andrew Duarte, 30, was killed at the scene, NBC News reported. Authorities identified the gunman as 49-year-old Diogenes Archangel Ortiz. The motive for the shooting has not yet been disclosed.

"I'm shattered. Devastated. He was the love of my life," said Duarte's girlfriend, Zanna Morris, during a vigil Saturday night outside the West York Borough Police Department.

Authorities responded to the incident around 11 am local time on Saturday, with police radio reports later confirming that at least two officers had been shot and the shooter was down.

Police responded to an "active threat" at UPMC Hospital in West Manchester Township, which "has now been neutralized," said Ted Czech, public information officer for York County’s Office of Emergency Management, adding that "an investigation is underway."

At an afternoon news conference, York County District Attorney Tim Barker said Archangel-Ortiz entered the hospital with a bag containing a handgun and zip ties before making his way to the Intensive Care Unit.

"(Archangel-Ortiz) went and held hostage members of the UPMC staff. In total, he wound up discharging his firearm and struck three members of the UPMC staff," Barker said.

"One was a doctor who was grazed, the other was a nurse and a custodian who are in stable condition at this time," he added.

The UPMC confirmed that no patients were physically harmed. However, at least three medical staff members and two law enforcement officers were shot. All of the wounded are in stable condition.

-- BERNAMA-ANADOLU