NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — A husband and wife are dead in an apparent murder-suicide incident at Riverside Regional Medical Center.
Newport News Police received a call around 8:20 a.m. Sunday for a shooting inside the hospital, The Virginian-Pilot reports. Chief Steve Drew told WTKR that responding officers found a man and a woman, who were both in their 70s, suffering from gunshot wounds inside a hospital room on the fourth floor. They were pronounced dead at the scene.
Authorities said it appears the man, who was a patient at the hospital, was shot by the woman before she turned the gun on herself. No one else was injured.
“You never know what’s in someone’s mind,” Drew said. “My hope is when they do the search that there is some information, something in written form or maybe some statements made to family members, that can help us a little bit determine why. I can tell you that everything we know at this point is there is no active anger or violence toward staff or anyone else.”
Drew commended the hospital staff for their response, noting they quickly placed the hospital in lockdown and alerted authorities while continuing to provide patient care.
“My prayers go out to those that responded — uniformed or ununiformed, those who were on-duty and off-duty,” he said. “I couldn’t be more impressed with the communication, relationship, the partnership, working together.”
When asked about how a gun was brought into the hospital, WAVY reports Drew stated, “That will be a conversation for another time.”
If you or a loved one are struggling with suicidal thoughts, you can text TALK to 741741 or initiate an online chat at suicidepreventionlifeline.org/chat/. You can also call the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988. Additional resources can also be found at SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources.