Tembisa Hospital temporarily closed after nursing assistant shot by police officer boyfriend

A South African police officer shot dead a nursing assistant at the Tembisa Hospital on Wednesday and then turned the gun on himself.

The nursing assistant was the police officer’s girlfriend.

According to the Gauteng Department of Health, the South African Police Service officer arrived at his partner’s workplace at about 8am and told her to meet him in the hospital’s parking lot.  

The suspect was allegedly driving a state vehicle with blue lights on and parked in the Accident and Emergency Department’s parking lot.

“Upon arrival, the police officer opened fire on the enrolled nursing assistant and turned the gun on himself,” the Gauteng Department of Health reported.

The 30-year-old nursing assistant was declared dead at the scene. The 30-year-old police officer is in a critical state.

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The Gauteng Department of Health said the hospital is temporarily closed.

“This will allow the police to work on the scene of the incident and for the debriefing and counselling of both staff and patients,” it said.

Patients at Tembisa Hospital will continue to receive treatment, the health department added.

It also asked the pubic to visit nearby health facilities if they needed medical care.

Police are investigating the incident.

In a statement, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said it is shocked by the murder of the nursing assistant.

“This is one more example of our violent society where people are mercilessly attacked even in hospitals and schools,” said the DA’s Gauteng Shadow Health MEC Jack Bloom.

“This latest incident also highlights the scourge of gender-based violence, with the added twist that it is perpetrated by a police officer who should be upholding the law not breaking it,” he addded.

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