Suspect named in hospital stabbing of 3
LOS ANGELES — Police on Saturday identified the man who is accused of stabbing a doctor and two nurses inside a Southern California hospital emergency ward and remained inside a room for hours before police arrested him.
Ashkan Amirsoleymani, 35, has been booked on three counts of attempted murder related to Friday’s attack, the Los Angeles Police Department said on Twitter.
He was being held on $3 million bail. It was not immediately clear Saturday whether he had an attorney who could speak on his behalf, and the district attorney’s office did not respond to an email asking whether charges have been filed.
Police have not yet disclosed Amirsoleymani’s motive and Los Angeles Police Officer Rosario Cervantes said no other information was available Saturday.
Amirsoleymani walked into Encino Hospital Medical Center in the San Fernando Valley shortly before 4 p.m. Friday, police said.
He had parked his car in the middle of a street and went to the emergency room, where he asked for treatment for anxiety before stabbing the doctor and nurses, authorities said.
Fire officials said three victims were taken to a trauma center in critical condition. Police later said one underwent surgery.
KNBC-TV reported that Dignity Health Northridge Hospital Medical Center said two of the victims had been treated and released. The third victim remains hospitalized in fair but stable condition, the TV station reported.
The hospital did not immediately respond to requests for comment Saturday.
The first floor of the Encino hospital and some nearby offices were evacuated during the attack, police said.
There was no evidence that the man — later identified as Amirsoleymani — knew the victims, Los Angeles Police Department Deputy Chief Alan Hamilton said Friday.
The suspect remained inside a room in the hospital for about four hours as SWAT team members tried to negotiate with him before he was finally arrested, police said.
No one else in the hospital was injured and other patients were able to be treated, according to Elizabeth Nikels, a spokesperson for Prime Healthcare, which runs the Encino hospital.
Amirsoleymani was later taken to another hospital for treatment of self-inflicted injuries to his arms, authorities said.
Hamilton said he had a lengthy criminal record, including two arrests last year for battery of a police officer and resisting arrest.
Benjamin Roman, an ultrasound technician, told KNBC-TV that before the stabbing, he saw the suspect, who had a dog with him and who might have been high on drugs because he looked anxious and was drenched in sweat.
After the hospital issued an “internal triage” code, Roman said he saw a doctor and a nurse who had been stabbed.
“The doctor looked [like] she was in pain,” he said. “There was a lot of blood and it looked like … he might have got her abdomen.”
Nikels, in an email, said the hospital’s staff faced the harrowing situation with “incredible courage, calmness, and dedication.”
“Their focus throughout remained on the safety of staff and patients,” she wrote.