Deputy shot at Georgia hospital; training ‘saved countless lives’

A Georgia sheriff’s deputy was wounded Sunday night when a recently discharged patient returned to a hospital with a gun and began shooting.

The shooter opened fire just after 9 p.m. at Fairview Park Hospital, Dublin police Chief Tim Chatman told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Dublin is more than 130 miles southeast of downtown Atlanta.

Officers returned fire, and a Laurens County sheriff’s deputy was shot in the lower leg. The deputy, whose name has not been released, is expected to make a full recovery.

Firearms-related fatalities are up 68 percent from this same time a year ago, leading many, including President-elect Donald Trump, to claim there’s a war on cops that’s being driven largely by criticism from activists and politicians following a string of incidents in which unarmed suspects, mostly African-Americans, died at the hands of police. Protests followed, and so did shootings that targeted law enforcement.

Since early November, nine other law enforcement officials have been shot in Georgia.

Chatman said he believes the active shooter training at the hospital “saved countless lives” in Dublin. No patients or hospital staff were harmed during the shootout.

Akeem Woodard, the alleged shooter, initially got away. A search for Woodard prompted a lockdown of the hospital, Chatman said. At one point, at least 60 law enforcement officials were involved in the search.

An officer ultimately spotted Woodard “hiding behind some shrubbery,” Chatman said. “We confronted that individual, arresting him without incident.”

Police also found a weapon they believe was used during the shooting.