New Somerset Hospital shooting: Officer dies, pushing death toll to three

The 32-year-old police officer who was injured during a New Somerset hospital shooting has passed on.

This morning, Western Cape officials visited the New Somerset Hospital and confirmed that the officer underwent emergency surgery yesterday and succumbed to injuries related to his gunshot wound overnight.

The death toll now stands at three, after two patients were declared dead yesterday.

The deceased was escorting a patient and was in a cubicle when he heard an altercation in another cubicle of a surgical ward.

 This comes after the suspect grabbed a police officer’s gun and fired several shots.

“Sea Point police had taken a 35-year-old suspect to Somerset hospital for medical attention when a man in the ward grabbed the firearm of a police official and shot him through the head,” South African Police Service (Saps) reported.

According to Western Cape Provincial Minister of Health Nomafrench Mbombo, patients are undergoing counselling after witnessing the incident.

Mbombo confirmed that there were 26 patients in the cubicle during the altercation.

ALSO READ: Two dead, cop injured after man fires shots at Cape Town hospital

The alleged killer will undergo psychiatric evaluation.

Mbombo said a female nurse was able to sedate the patient in order to recover the firearm.

CPT premier reacts

Western Cape Premier Alan Winde described the incident as disturbing, as the medical staff is traumatised.

“It’s very unfortunate that patients lost their lives in a facility where we are caring for them,” Winde said.

According to the premier, the killer had been discharged from the hospital and was waiting for an ambulance to take him home when he grabbed the firearm from the police official.

“We are doing our best to ensure that the government hospitals are safe,” Alan Winde said.

The 40-year-old is remanded in custody.

ALSO READ: Black woman ‘mistaken’ for hippo, shot in Limpopo