The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed a CDC employee was killed in the shooting at the Northside Hospital Midtown medical office building.
In an e-mail to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Benjamin N. Haynes, director of the Division of Media Relations said, the “CDC is deeply saddened by the unexpected loss of a colleague killed today in the Midtown Atlanta shooting. Our hearts are with her family, friends, and colleagues as they remember her and grieve this tragic loss.”
The employee was Amy St. Pierre, her husband, Julian St. Pierre, confirmed to the AJC. She was a mother of two young children, friends said.
Credit: Facebook
Credit: Facebook
Four other women remained hospitalized, three in critical condition, late Wednesday from the shooting.
Grady Memorial Hospital surgeons and other personnel spent hours treating the wounded women, according to Chief Medical Officer Dr. Robert Jansen.
The shootings happened at about 12:08 p.m. in a waiting room of an upper-level office at the Northside Hospital Midtown medical building on West Peachtree Street. St. Pierre is believed to have been there for a medical appointment.
Four other women, ages 71, 56, 39 and 25, were rushed to Grady hospital, arriving between 20 to 30 minutes of each other.
Initially, police told hospital officials to prepare for as many as 12 patients. The hospital declared a “mass casualty event” and gathered enough surgeons, nurses, chaplains and other personnel to treat the wounded.
The hospital also increased security and briefly suspended visitor access because they were unsure about the suspect’s location.
All four victims were brought to the hospital by Grady EMS. Two of the victims in critical condition were brought straight to the operating room from the emergency department, where surgeons were ready and waiting.
Another patient in critical condition was not treated in the operating room, but through “interventional radiology,” which Jansen described as an invasive procedure for certain types of injuries, particularly to the blood vessels. That patient will have follow-up procedures, though Jansen did not provide details.
The patient in stable condition has remained in the trauma center and will probably not require surgery, while the other three victims are being treated in the intensive care unit. Jansen described the injuries to those patients as “very serious.”
At least two of the patients’ families had arrived at the hospital to be with their loved ones shortly after the shooting, Jansen said.
And he emphasized the swift response of the hospital to get ready to treat the victims. After the closure of Atlanta Medical Center last fall, Grady is now the only Level 1 trauma center in the city capable of treating the most severe injuries.
“I could not be more proud of the performance of all of the staff at Grady,” Jansen said. “It was absolutely seamless.”
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