Doctor And Nurses Stabbed In Encino Hospital Standoff

LOS ANGELES, CA — A man stabbed a doctor and two nurses in the Encino Hospital Medical Center emergency room and barricaded himself inside the hospital for more than four hours before police arrested him Friday, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

The LAPD confirmed about 8:15 p.m. that SWAT units on the scene managed to apprehend the suspect.

Los Angeles Police Department officers responded to reports of an armed man who stabbed medical personnel at the Encino Hospital Medical Center shortly before 4 p.m. Friday.

"At 3:50 p.m., a guy with a knife walked into an emergency room," said Los Angeles Police Department spokesman Drake Madison. "I know he stabbed one or two medical staff."

At one point, officers had him confined to a hospital break room, Madison said.

All three victims were removed from the Encino hospital and taken by ambulance to Dignity Health Northridge Hospital Medical Center.

That hospital issued a statement confirming they were being treated at the medical center's Level II Trauma Center, and "all three patients are currently listed in stable condition."

A large contingent of police and firefighters descended on the scene, including a SWAT team, and amassed in the street outside the hospital. The suspect, identified only as a man, remained barricaded inside the hospital as evening fell, and police evacuated the first floor of the hospital and adjacent offices.

During a news conference outside the Encino hospital, police said one of the victims was in critical condition and was undergoing surgery early Friday evening

The total number of people injured in the attack was not immediately known.

The hospital is located in the 16200 block of Ventura Boulevard.

According to NBC Los Angeles, several people were carried outside on stretchers.

City News Service contributed to this report.