On Monday, Nov. 19 at around 6 p.m., a gun was fired in the emergency room at Kingston General Hospital.
According to Kingston police, correctional officers were escorting Corey Ward, a Millhaven Institution inmate, to the hospital for medical attention. On arrival, Ward asked to go to the washroom and what happened next caused the hospital to go into lockdown.
“The correctional officers were in the process of re-handcuffing the accused and in the process, he was able to disarm one of the officers of his firearm,” said Jay Finn, the Det.-Sgt. for Kingston police.
Finn continued that the officers were able to wrestle the firearm away from Ward within moments, but not before he fired two shots, one of which hit an unnamed bystander in the emergency room.
Get breaking National news
The hospital told Global News that the victim was a family member who was accompanying a patient in the emergency department.
“The person was hit in the leg and is currently in stable condition,” said head of Emergency Medicine, David Messenger.
On Tuesday, Ward was escorted into the Kingston courtroom by six members of the emergency response team with Correction Service of Canada, who were all wearing black masks.
When they arrived in the courtroom, the officers were holding him so tightly that the judge had to tell them to loosen their grip. Ward also shouted that he was bleeding from his arm by the way he was being held.
During the court session, Ward asked for a 30-day psychiatric assessment because he says he was off his medication on Monday evening. He continued by saying in court that shortly before the hospital visit, he had tried to take his own life.
The hearing lasted for around 10 minutes and he is set to be back in court on Dec. 18 via video.
The 32-year-old is serving a 10-year sentence at Millhaven Institution. Ward was incarcerated at Kingston Penitentiary before it was closed down.
Officials with Correction Service of Canada said he was convicted in 2012 for a number of charges which include uttering death threats, assault with a weapon and assault of a peace officer.
Ward is no stranger to the corrections system, having been in and out of prison since at least 2004.
In his bail hearing, the duty clerk said he was incarcerated in a Moncton prison in 2004 for unknown charges. They also said he was convicted in 2013 in Halifax for arson to endanger life, failure to stop for police and dangerous driving.
Now, the accused faces much more serious charges including three of attempted murder, three for discharging a weapon with intent and a number of other offences.
Comments