Man with knife in custody after barricading himself inside Broward Health Medical Center

Patient taken into custody without incident, police say

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – A man who barricaded himself inside a room at a Fort Lauderdale hospital Wednesday surrendered peacefully to police.

The Fort Lauderdale police SWAT team was called to Broward Health Medical Center after an armed man barricaded himself inside a room.

The unidentified 38-year-old man, who was a patient at the hospital, had made threats to hurt himself with a knife, which prompted the hospital's staff to contact an on-duty officer, Fort Lauderdale police said. 

When police arrived, the man had locked himself inside the fifth floor room. 

A large police presence was seen outside the front entrance of the hospital at 1600 S. Andrews Ave. However, only the fifth floor of the hospital was on lockdown. 

After a standoff, negotiators were able to talk to the man on the phone and he surrendered peacefully to police.

"He was making no demands, and he actually opened the door," Fort Lauderdale Dectective Tracy Figone said.

The man suffered self-inflicted superficial wounds from the knife and was taken into custody under Florida's Baker Act, police said.

Jill Wright was visiting her son on the fifth floor of the hospital when the incident took place. 

"All of a sudden, here comes all these cops in, like, SWAT gear," she said. 

Several of those officers came into her son's room to get a glimpse of the armed man, Wright said. 

"They just open his windows and they were all looking across, and they had their guns out," she said. "It was a scary little thing that happened. I come out here and was like, 'What the hell's going on?'" 


About the Authors:

Janine Stanwood joined Local 10 News in February 2004 as an assignment editor. She is now a general assignment reporter. Before moving to South Florida from her Washington home, Janine was the senior legislative correspondent for a United States senator on Capitol Hill.