Pennsylvania: UPMC Memorial Hospital shooter had family member admitted with terminal illness

A shooting took place Saturday at UPMC Memorial Hospital in York County, Pa. In the incident, a West York Borough Police officer died after being shot in the chest by the attacker, Diogenes Archangel-Ortiz. Three other officers were wounded in their intervention and five medical personnel also suffered injuries.

The shooter was gunned down by police and died.

According to York County authorities, who offered several statements to the press after the event, the attack on the hospital could have been motivated by the treatment received by a relative of the shooter.

According a statement form District Attorney Tim Baker on Sunday, the shooter had contact with a person hospitalized at UPMC Memorial in the days before the shooting. He did not specify more in the first press conference, but CNN and AOL quoted official sources who claim that the shooter's wife was diagnosed with a terminal illness and that the hospital was unable to offer any life-saving treatment.

After this, according to these media reports, Archangel-Ortiz went into a rage and had to be expelled from the hospital for his behavior. He returned days later armed with duct tape and zipties to carry out the attack, which prosecutor Baker has labeled as "targeted" against hospital workers.

It is unclear whether the shooter's relative is dead or still alive.

Official mourning for deceased police officer

The 30-year-old officer's death was ruled a homicide, the York County coroner's office said in a news release posted Monday on social media.

Duarte died after being shot in the torso, the news release said. A service to celebrate Duarte's life has been set for Friday, Feb. 28, at Living Word Community Church in Red Lion, Pa., according to an obituary published in The York Dispatch on Monday.

No patients at the medical center were injured, but several hospital workers were hit by bullets.