UPDATE: Oct. 27 at 5 p.m.
Kentucky State Police released information on their preliminary findings from the investigation regarding an officer-involved shooting in Hardin County on Oct. 19, with officials revealing the identity of the alleged suspect.
KSP detailed that police were called to Baptist Health Hardin Hospital in Elizabethtown on a shooting in which a man inside the hospital was allegedly making threats to hospital staff and patients. Police also received additional information that he had allegedly fired the gun inside the hospital.
The investigation found that when police arrived on the scene, they observed several people running out of the hospital. Officers then entered the hospital and found the alleged suspect, identified by police as 39-year-old George Lee Jr., who then turned to the officer with the gun.
At that point, according to officials, Elizabethtown Police Department Lieutenant Alex Ruiz fired his gun once, ultimately hitting Lee. Lee was taken to an area hospital where he is currently in "critical yet stable condition," officials report.
Lt. Ruiz, who is a 10-year veteran of the EPD, was place on administrative leave, according to KSP.
Original Story:
An officer-involved shooting is under investigation in Hardin County after an Elizabethtown Police Department (EPD) officer discharged a firearm inside of a local hospital, Kentucky State Police reports.
EPD officers responded to the Baptist Health Hardin Hospital on Saturday morning around 5:15 a.m. following multiple reports that an individual had fired a gun within the hospital. When they arrived, they encountered the man, who was armed.
An EPD officer fired a shot at the individual, striking him. The man, who sustained life-threatening injuries, was transported to a Louisville hospital where he is being treated.
The incident remains under investigation.
