Patient attacks nurses with metal object at Minn. hospital
68-year-old man dies in custody after violent outburst
A 68-year-old patient went on a violent rampage in a Minnesota hospital last week, attacking four nurses with a metal bar he ripped from his bed in an assault captured on video.
Charles Logan, of St. Paul, is seen on surveillance video wildly swinging a metal rod as health care workers at St. John’s Hospital in Maplewood run for safety, leaving two nurses hospitalized, including one with a collapsed lung. Another nurse who was not severely injured was 8-months pregnant, MyFoxTwinCities.com reports.
“In an instant — literally an instant — it becomes mayhem,” said Maplewood Police Chief Paul Schnell, adding that Logan was paranoid and thought people were trying to kill him. “Everything we’ve been able to learn talking to friends and family of Mr. Logan, this was not him. That confusion and level of paranoia and violence was never part of his background and nor was it expected.”
Adam Linn, another patient in the unit, was recovering from an appendectomy when he tried to help but automatic doors blocked his access to Logan, who later died.
“I was sound asleep in bed when I heard the screams,” Linn said. “There was blood everywhere. Outside my reach were nurses laying in the hallway and a guy beating them with a medical device.”
Logan eventually ran out of the hospital, where deputies unsuccessfully tried to subdue him.
“We know there was a brief struggle,” Schnell said. “He was in handcuffs and moments later, he went unresponsive.”
Police said Logan was admitted to the hospital three days earlier due to confusion and paranoia after a routine surgery at another hospital. Relatives believe he was given wrong medication that ultimately led to Sunday’s rampage.
“What caused this, everyone hopes to have an answer,” Schnell said. “We’ll see what comes back from the autopsy.”
The assault reflects a rising trend of violence against health care workers in Minnesota, the Star Tribune reports. A record 46 workers’ compensation claims have been filed by nurses who were assaulted or intentionally injured in hospitals, according to state data through September. At that pace, this year’s injury claims will equal the total for 2012 and 2013 combined, the newspaper reports.
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