Hospital Seeks Tighter Security After Shooting

Shaken by a weekend shooting at the doors of its emergency room, Daniel Freeman Memorial Hospital is studying how to tighten security. But the Inglewood hospital appears reluctant to take one of the most controversial steps being considered--arming its security guards.

“We feel we’re a hospital. We’re not an armed camp, we’re here to help,” said Peter Bastone, the hospital’s executive vice president. “It’s just a very difficult decision to make.”

Violence encroached on hospital property early Sunday when a 16-year-old youth was shot in the thigh near the emergency department, apparently by a member of a rival gang. The youth was discharged from the hospital Sunday.

Inglewood and Los Angeles police are investigating the shooting, which they believe involved gang members associated with the Bloods and Crips.

The Daniel Freeman emergency department attracted attention during the Los Angeles riots when it treated more than 150 wounded, including Reginald O. Denny, the truck driver who was dragged from his truck and beaten.

But hospital employees say they are unaccustomed to hearing gunshots on the hospital premises. Daniel Freeman officials called the incident the first shooting ever at the nonprofit Catholic hospital, which is operated by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet.

“Something like this is obviously very distressing,” said Kim Colonnelli, nurse manager of emergency services. “This has weighed heavily on our minds.”

The shooting occurred early Sunday when two groups of gang members arrived separately at the emergency department, according to hospital and police accounts. The first group arrived about 1 a.m. One member, suffering from a bullet wound in the chest, underwent surgery and was in fair condition Monday at the hospital. Other members of the group had minor injuries and were treated and released.

The second group arrived about 90 minutes later, escorting a gang member who needed treatment for an injured hand. A member of this group was standing near the automatic doors of the emergency waiting area at about 2:40 a.m. when he was shot in the thigh by a member of the first gang, hospital officials said.

Although initial reports suggested that the victim was at the threshold or slightly inside the waiting area, hospital spokesman Brandon E. Faulk said Monday that he was outside the doors.

A security guard and nurses reported that three or four shots were fired, hospital officials said.

The guard ordered the seven or eight people in the waiting area to “hit the deck,” officials said. The gunman fled and has not been found. The investigation could prove difficult because “there are so many people involved in this,” said Sgt. Alex Perez, spokesman at the Inglewood Police Department.

Hospital officials say they had planned to review security measures in the wake of recent violence at other hospitals, such as the wounding of three physicians in February in the emergency waiting area at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center.

The effort, which will involve the use of consultants, has gained new impetus after the weekend shooting, hospital officials said. Daniel Freeman also plans to contact gang experts and conciliators to try to ensure that gangs view the hospital as neutral ground.

The hospital has a locked door in the emergency area between the patient waiting room and treatment area. About two years ago, it installed windows of bulletproof glass in the emergency department’s patient registration section, protecting the area where clerks sit.

Los Angeles County uses armed guards at its six hospitals, and guards are stationed at all times in emergency room areas, a county spokeswoman said. But armed guards are less common at non-county hospitals. Guards are not armed at Centinela Hospital Medical Center in Inglewood or at nearby Robert F. Kennedy Medical Center in Hawthorne.