| Shooting
incident at hospital
On April 9, 2008, at approximately 1:00 a.m. while being treated for chest pain at St. Mary’s hospital in Cottonwood, inmate Douglas G. Wood attempted to escape by disarming Chief Jailer Rick Shira. After a struggle for the firearm, Wood unsuccessfully attempted to shoot Shira and Shira was able to disarm and subdue Wood. Shira received minor injuries during the struggle, Wood was unharmed, and no one else was harmed in the incident. Wood, 41 years of age of Kamiah, was being held pending trial for Battery with Intent to Commit a Serious Felony on a Peace Officer, and Burglary in the shooting of Corporal Jim Gorges at the Gorges residence on December 5, 2007. The incident is still under investigation by the Idaho County Sheriff’s Office and the Idaho State Police. Wood will now face additional charges of Battery with Intent to Commit a Serious Felony on a Peace Officer with Firearm Enhancement, Escape by Attempting to Escape and Battery on a Police Officer, all Felonies. Wood will be held at the Idaho State Correctional Institute in Kuna pending further hearings. Sheriff Dasenbrock extends his gratitude to the staff at St. Mary’s Hospital, Cottonwood Police Chief Terry Cochran and the staff at North Idaho Correctional Institute for their assistance during this incident. Hospital staff to be commended According to Idaho County Sheriff’s Office Detective Joan Renshaw, the employees of St. Mary’s Hospital did an outstanding job not only in protecting the patients within the hospital during Wednesday morning’s incident, but in assisting the emergency services personnel to facilitate a faster response time. No hospital staff or patients were injured. The hospital is arranging debriefing sessions for their employees. “Our hospital regularly holds major incident exercises and reviews our protocols for emergency situations, so our employees responded quickly and appropriately to handle the situation,” said Casey Meza, CEO. “Their first concern was to assist the emergency personnel and protect our patients and fellow staff members.” “The employees should be commended for their quick action,” said Detective Renshaw. St. Mary’s Hospital is a 23 bed hospital. The hospital has a policy of not releasing patient information to the public. All questions related to the incident are being referred to the Idaho County Sheriff’s Department, 983-1100. Notes from Pat Chronicle publisher closer to the action than she'd like to be The staff at St. Mary’s Hospital must be commended for their efforts last Tuesday night. The staff during a very trying situation preformed very well. How do I know, I was across the hall from the incident. What happened? A prisoner was brought into the hospital from the jail in Nezperce Tuesday afternoon complaining of chest pain. I first saw him in the emergency room while I was in the lab. Next I heard about him when two shots were fired in the room across the hall at the hospital. Earlier I saw several men in uniform in the hall outside my room. I would like to give the staff a pat on the back for quietly handling the matter with out undue disturbance to the patients. Later the man was returned to the Lewis County Jail. The next day hospital staff came to patient rooms expressing care and concern for the incident. Adding changes are in the works. I think we can all be proud of the staff for their care under fire. For a little while spring came over the weekend, may more days of sunshine be in the works. All the best to each of you as Mother Nature comes alive. Pat… |
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