‘I hugged him’: How Cape Town nurse disarmed hospital gunman
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A fearless nurse managed to calm a gunman inside a Cape Town hospital by hugging him and chatting until he agreed to be sedated.
“I walked towards him and hugged him,” said Sister Diane Seale from New Somerset Hospital where Jaun-Paul Carl Malgas allegedly shot dead two patients and a policeman on Saturday night
“As I entered the second floor, I noticed a body on the floor in the corridor, but my eye caught the patient with the gun in his hand. I walked straight to him and made eye contact.
“I escorted him into a cubicle. He told me to close the door. That also afforded our staff [the chance] to attend to the policeman who had been shot. I felt I could calm him down a bit.
“Though I noted two patients had been shot and were deceased, there were still two patients who were alive that I needed to save. I kept him seated, standing in front of him, so that these patients were kept out of harm’s way,” Seale told health department officials who shared her comments on Wednesday.
“I walked towards him and hugged him,” said Sister Diane Seale from New Somerset Hospital where Jaun-Paul Carl Malgas allegedly shot dead two patients and a policeman on Saturday night
“As I entered the second floor, I noticed a body on the floor in the corridor, but my eye caught the patient with the gun in his hand. I walked straight to him and made eye contact.
“I escorted him into a cubicle. He told me to close the door. That also afforded our staff [the chance] to attend to the policeman who had been shot. I felt I could calm him down a bit.
“Though I noted two patients had been shot and were deceased, there were still two patients who were alive that I needed to save. I kept him seated, standing in front of him, so that these patients were kept out of harm’s way,” Seale told health department officials who shared her comments on Wednesday.
