A man fired 10 days ago from his long-time job at the Lincoln Community Hospital in Hugo entered the hospital early this morning with two guns and was eventually “talked down” by law enforcement officers, the hospital said today.
Herman Schreivogel, the hospital’s administrator, said the hospital was on customary night-time lockdown last night.
However, the man, a nurse at the hospital for 12 years before his termination, was able to enter the hospital about 4:30 a.m. after brandishing two handguns, according to Schreivogel and the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department.
The sheriff’s department said the former nurse “forcibly entered the hospital.”
Once in the hospital, the 43-year-old man had two nurses take him to the emergency room and there asked for medical treatment.
Staff at the hospital alerted authorities in a 911 call at 4:55 a.m., according to the sheriff’s office.
Schreivogel said the man remained in the emergency room as local police, the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department and the Colorado State Patrol responded.
The first deputy arrived at the scene at 4:55 a.m.
Schreivogel said the man was suicidal.
During the incident, he never pointed the gun at the nurses who he knew and had previously worked with, said the hospital administrator.
As law enforcement officers talked to the man, a doctor stood by, said Schreivogel.
Eventually the man handed over the guns and was taken into custody after speaking with Lincoln County Sheriff Tom Nestor.
Schreivogel said the man was medicated and is being treated for health problems.
Schreivogel declined to say why the man was terminated.
Schreivogel said he knows the former nurse “very well” and in fact hired him 12 years ago.
He said the man was “stabilized” and has been transferred to the Lincoln County Jail. He said at the jail the former nurse will be evaluated by mental health professionals and transferred to a facility where he can get help.
The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department said no one was injured during the incident. The sheriff’s department said the man had no known prior criminal history.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com
