One day after the first fatal shooting in the history of the Guelph Police Service, a number of questions remain about exactly what took place inside Guelph General Hospital.
For instance: Who was the man shot dead by police inside the hospital’s emergency room?
No details other than his gender have been made public, but a spokesperson for Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit told CTV News further information could be released on Friday.
Another unanswered question: Exactly what happened leading up to, during and immediately after Wednesday’s shooting?
Those circumstances are being probed by a team of SIU investigators.
Until the SIU completes its report and makes its findings public – which could take several months, depending on its complexity – the only accounts available are those of people who say they were around the hospital at the time.
One such person is Yvonne Morton, who had given birth to her second child the previous day.
Morton says she was outside the hospital when she heard gunshots and screams, followed by a woman running out of the hospital.
“(She had) blood on her hand, blood on her leg. She then collapsed to the ground,” Morton said.
“All I heard is ‘Somebody help, my boyfriend’s shooting me.’”
A police spokesperson told CTV News he didn’t have any information to suggest anyone other than police officers had fired shots.
“If something like that was to happen, I’m sure it would come out in the investigation – but I’m not aware of anything like that,” Const. Mike Gatto said.
Trina Boone was also inside the hospital at the time, visiting her father as he recovered from surgery.
She recalls hearing a voice calling out emergency codes over the building’s PA system, with increased urgency.
“You could hear the distress in her voice. You knew there was something serious going on,” she said.
Boone also said staff were going around the hospital, closing doors and instructing people to stay in their rooms.
For a period of time after the shooting, the hospital was under a Code White – for a violent or aggressive person – and a Code Orange, which meant other hospitals were asked to take on patients.
At least one patient was diverted to Grand River Hospital in Kitchener, while others were sent to Groves Memorial Hospital in Fergus.
“Everyone came together as a team,” Guelph General Hospital president Marianne Walker said about the response.
“They put the patients first, and thought of themselves second.”
The man shot had been at the hospital many times before, a source who did not want to be identified told CTV News.
Homewood Health, one of Canada’s largest addiction and mental health centres, is situated near the hospital.
A spokesperson for the facility declined to say whether any of its patients were involved in the incident.
“Homewood is co-operating fully with the police investigation,” Ric Ament said.
“Beyond that, we’re not able to provide any further information at this time.”
Police and the SIU left the hospital shortly before midnight Thursday, at which point normal operations resumed inside the emergency unit.
Counselling and other services will be available for hospital workers left reeling from the event, Walker said.
“All our staff will get as much time off as they need, and as much support as they require,” she said,.
“We really want to make sure that they’re OK.”
