Security guard killed in Portland hospital shooting

A security guard was killed and a second person was wounded when a gunman opened fire Saturday morning inside a hospital in Portland, Oregon, authorities said. Following a manhunt, the suspect was later shot and killed by police during a traffic stop.  

Portland Police Bureau Sgt. Kevin Allen told reporters in a news briefing that the shooting was reported at about 11 a.m. Pacific time at Legacy Good Samaritan Medical Center in Northwest Portland.

A security guard, identified as Bobby Smallwood, was rushed to a trauma center with gunshot wounds, but later died of his injuries, both police and the hospital confirmed Saturday evening. 

A hospital staff member who was also wounded in the shooting was in stable condition, the hospital said. 

No patients were wounded, according to police.  

Following the shooting, responding officers locked down the hospital and began “fanning throughout the neighborhood” searching for the suspect, Allen said.

A nearby Fred Meyer grocery store was evacuated and searched as well, but the suspect was not located inside, he disclosed.

The suspect was later spotted and pulled over by officers from multiple law enforcement agencies while driving a vehicle in the city of Gresham, which is located just east of Portland, about 15 miles from the hospital, police reported.  

During that traffic stop, officer opened fire on the suspect and he died at the scene, police said. He was not immediately identified. No officers were injured. Police did not confirm if the suspect was armed when he was found, or whether he fired on police. 

There was no word on a possible motive in the hospital shooting, and no details were provided on the circumstances which led up to it.

During the search for the suspect, a shelter in place order was in effect for the hospital, with all visitors, patients and staff asked to stay away. That shelter in place has since been lifted.  

Good Samaritan Medical Center is part of the Legacy Health system. 

“Words cannot express the profound grief we are experiencing,” Kathryn Correia, Legacy Health president and CEO, said in a statement. “We offer our unwavering support to Bobby’s loved ones, to our patients in our care, to the staff at Legacy Good Samaritan and to all of our employees and providers suffering today.”