Gunman opens fire at Nebraska hospital, wounding 2 police officers before being shot

Gunman wounds 2 officers at Neb. hospital; is shot

OMAHA, Neb. — A gunman opened fire at an Omaha hospital Wednesday morning, wounding two police officers who also shot him, authorities said.

Omaha police have not disclosed many details about the shootings at Creighton University Medical Center, including the suspect’s identity, what set off the shooting or the sequence of events. Police Lt. Darci Tierney said the suspect was in “very critical condition” at the hospital Wednesday afternoon. The two officers were treated for minor gunshot wounds.

The shootings occurred at about 9 a.m. inside the hospital, which is a few blocks north of the city’s downtown. Police spokesman Jacob Bettin declined to say where in the building the shootings occurred, but Omaha television station KETV reported that witnesses said it happened in or near the cafeteria.

Hospital employees outside the center declined to answer questions from The Associated Press.

Investigators were looking into whether the gunman may have been involved in another incident with police hours earlier in the Omaha suburbs, Bettin said.

According to La Vista Police Chief Robert Lausten, a woman called the department at about 12:15 a.m. Wednesday to report that her sister’s estranged husband had attacked her sister in Tekamah and threatened to drive to La Vista to kill her and her mother. Tekamah is about 40 miles north of Omaha.

According to the Burt County Sheriff’s Office, deputies went to the man’s home near Tekamah but were told he had just left in his pickup truck and had taken three guns with him.

Lausten said officers set up surveillance at the La Vista homes of the caller and her mother and that the suspect drove by the mother’s home within minutes.

Officers tried to stop the truck, but the driver took off and led police on a chase through the city at speeds of over 90 mph, Lausten said. Officers gave up the dangerous chase, and the driver crashed into a utility pole in nearby Ralston a short time later. The suspect fled the scene armed with a rifle, the chief said.

The chief said he was told the suspect may have had some “special forces kind of training.”

“We’re really lucky no one was shot here,” Lausten said.

The suspect was not found, despite aid from Omaha police, the Nebraska State Patrol, search dogs and a helicopter.

Lausten said his officers combed an amusement park called FunPlex after receiving tips that the driver had fled into the park.

Omaha police said earlier Wednesday that they haven’t determined that the suspect in the Tekamah incident was involved in the hospital shooting.

After the shootings, police and security officers stood outside the hospital and stopped those leaving the hospital to check whether they had already spoken with investigators inside.

Patients with appointments were allowed in.

Bettin said the hospital remained in partial lockdown to protect the crime scene and evidence.

Creighton University Medical Center, which has 334 beds, is one of two trauma centers in Omaha. It has a network of nearly 300 physicians who practice in eastern Nebraska and western Iowa.

Associated Press writers Josh Funk and Nelson Lampe in Omaha and Margery A. Beck in Lincoln contributed to this report.

Online:

Creighton University Medical Center: www.creightonhospital.com

Omaha Police: www.opd.ci.omaha.ne.us