Kingston ER staff feel ‘violated’ after shooting incident

A Correctional Service Canada prisoner is facing nine charges, a man visiting a patient at Kingston General Hospital was wounded, and the hospital’s emergency department is feeling “violated” after a shooting on Monday night.

The surreal night started a little before 6 p.m., when an inmate from Millhaven Institution was taken to the hospital after he was found unconscious in his cell, a news release from Kingston Police and the correctional service said. While at the hospital, the inmate was initially co-operative with staff and the two officers guarding him. For the majority of his stay, he was in leg restraints and his hands were cuffed in front of him.

Because of his co-operation, the handcuffs were removed when he asked to use the washroom, the release said. Before the inmate could be handcuffed again after he left the washroom, he pulled one officer’s gun from its holster, police said.

“The officers reacted immediately and were able to keep the firearm pointed down as they brought the accused to the ground,” police said.

But during the struggle, the inmate fired two rounds and a third jammed in the gun, Det. Sgt. Jay Finn said. The first round struck a man in the foot and the second hit a wall. Additional correctional officers who were at the hospital with another prisoner responded, the firearm was secured and the prisoner was brought under control.

The man who was shot suffered a serious but non-life-threatening injury and went into surgery that night. Jason Godin, president of the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers, said both of the officers involved are very experienced and are doing as well as can be expected.

“They’re shaken up,” Rob Finucan, the union’s Ontario regional president, said. “It could have been a lot worse.”

Dr. David Messenger, head of the emergency department, said Tuesday that staff were debriefed shortly after the incident but they feel “violated.”

“This was terrifying and traumatizing for staff,” Messenger said.

All hospital staff also received an email letting them know support services are available.

On Monday evening, there were at least three inmates in the department with various medical issues. In the ward where the shooting occurred, there were nine full beds, two to five patients in the hallway, and 10 to 15 staff working.

Messenger said Monday evenings are typically the busiest of the week.

“It was extremely busy,” Messenger said. “There were patients in hallways, some within just a few steps of where this incident happened. One of the priorities for our team immediately in the aftermath was making sure that the patients who witnessed this got as much support as we could possibly offer them.”

Curtis Jackson, assistant deputy commissioner of correctional operations, said the officers had followed protocol and would have taken the handcuffs off the inmate based on how he was behaving prior to the incident.

“It’s very early on in the investigation, but based on everything we’ve heard on the investigation, the officers were very diligent and professional in handling the situation,” Jackson said.

Jackson said the preliminary investigation has shown that an equipment malfunction was not a factor. Despite that, Godin said the union’s investigation won’t be ruling that out. Correctional officers are equipped with a Heckler & Koch 9 mm pistol and a holster that requires three steps to remove the firearm: pressing a button, moving forward a latch, and rocking the firearm forward to draw it.

Inmate Corey Ward, 32, serving a 10-year sentence, has been charged with three counts each of attempted murder and discharging a firearm with intent, and one count each of aggravated assault, weapons dangerous to public peace, and disarming a peace officer.

Ward appeared in bail court on Tuesday morning at about 11 a.m. in ankle and belt shackles and escorted by six black-clad emergency response team members.

In the middle of his arraignment, immediately after the charge of taking a peace officer’s gun was read in, Ward suddenly interjected: “They took the cuffs off me and dared me to attack them.”

Ward also asked the justice of the peace to order him a 30-day psychiatric assessment and complained that his medication was being withheld.

Ward is scheduled to reappear via video on Dec. 18.