A man in blue St. Mary Medical Center shirt and khaki pants stood on the ledge of hospital's fourth-floor parking garage Wednesday afternoon leading officials to believe he was attempting to jump.
After a nearly two-hour-long standoff with police in Middletown, the older man came down from his breezy perch and was secured by police officers, checked by paramedics and taken from the scene.
Specially-trained officers were able to talk the man down from the ledge, Philly.com reported.
The man was set to retire from his job at the hospital in the near future, several hospital employees and police sources told Patch. Two hospital employees said they believed the man's family had recently suffered health-related issues.
Just minutes before the man stepped away from the ledge, he was spotted holding what appeared to be a cell phone to his ear and holding his other hand to his head.
Kate Snow, a hospital spokesperson, said St. Mary remained opened during the incident and suffered little disruption.
An independently operated childcare center on the hospital grounds was locked down and children were led from the premise and into Core Creek Park, police at the scene confirmed. The center is located near the garage where the man was threatening to jump from.
Concerned parents picked their children up from a staging area in the park that was manned by county park rangers.
Police officers, detectives and trained crisis negotiators from several neighboring departments descended upon the scene shortly before 1 p.m. after the incident was reported.The fire marshal's office, rescue squad and fire police also responded to the hospital to aid officers.
Throughout the ordeal, additional law enforcement personnel in unmarked cars and SUVs streamed in and out of the hospital driveway.
Hospital spokesman Patrick Donohue said the hospital and its staff are keeping the man in their thoughts.
Don- I totally agree that we have excuses to invade privacy for entertainment. But if we didn't have shows like Life in the ER, Trauma, and COPS, we as a society wouldn't know what happens beyond news and the media. Yes there always be a thin line between personal security and what the people want to hear. Be glad that reporters on Patch and other American media report on issues like these. If you look at international and media outlets in other countries, half the time, they don't even report, violence against children and women. My point is that journalism is good and bad. There will not be a point in time where all media will be good because we as humanity have a thirst for good news and if the story is not detailed then we will go to the next story that is more interesting. Also, do you remember the Cosby Show? I watch that show so many times and our kids need to watch to bring back morals and ethics. Our kids want to be what they see on tv; well then why not bring the show back on?
In a civil society, we ought to treat our fellow men with dignity, even when we don't feel they "deserve" it. As for the VOICE, I have to wonder why you are looking to extract a pound of flesh from a man who clearly is distraught. He has a plenty of consequences for his actions, as one writer noted he will probably lose his job over this, and plenty of distress in his life.
Yes I do agree with you that the journalist should have interviewed those that thought this was a disruption even as an anonymous source. Think about it, there have been MANY incidences where journalists have taken pictures and written stories about people on the ledge on top of buildings. This is not the first time! Bottom line- In a few days this story will die down and then something else comes up. There will always be something in the news that the public will dislike.
He did not endanger anyone's life other than his own in the hospital including the children.