An inmate being treated at an Illinois hospital grabbed an attending officer’s weapon and took a hospital employee hostage, the Kane County Sheriff’s Department said Saturday afternoon.
Hostage negotiators and the Kane County SWAT team have arrived at Delnor Hospital in Geneva, about 40 miles west of Chicago.
No injuries are reported at this point.
The inmate was receiving medical treatment near the emergency room at about 12:30 p.m. local time (1:30 p.m. ET) when he grabbed the attending sheriff deputy’s pistol, sheriff’s department spokesman Patrick Gengler said.
The inmate then took a female hospital employee hostage in a room near the treatment area, he said.
The emergency room closed but other patients have not been evacuated. CNN affiliate WLS reported visitors are not allowed entry into other parts of the 159-bed hospital.