The Citizen reports that the 32-year-old police officer who was injured during a New Somerset hospital shooting has passed on.

On Sunday, Western Cape officials confirmed that the officer underwent emergency surgery on Saturday, but succumbed to injuries related to his gunshot wound overnight. The death toll now stands at three, after two patients were declared dead on Saturday. The deceased officer had been escorting a patient and was in a cubicle when he heard an altercation in another cubicle of a surgical ward. The officer went to check and was shot through the head after the suspect apparently grabbed his gun and fired several shots. Two patients, aged 42 and 48, were also shot dead. According to the Western Cape premier, Alan Winde, the killer had been discharged from the hospital and was waiting for an ambulance to take him home when he grabbed the firearm from the police official. Western Cape Minister of Health Nomafrench Mbombo indicated that a female nurse had been able to sedate the patient in order to recover the firearm. Mbombo confirmed that there were 26 patients in the cubicle during the altercation. The 40-year-old suspect has been remanded in custody and will undergo psychiatric evaluation. “We are doing our best to ensure that the government hospitals are safe,” Winde said.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Lethabo Malatsi at The Citizen
• Read too, Cape Town hospital shooting: Death toll rises to three, at News24
• En ook, Konstabel sterf ook ná skote by Kaapstad-hospitaal klap, by Maroela Media

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