Police called to Windsor hospital, alleged victim unwilling to cooperate with investigation: RCMP

WINDSOR, N.S. — Although the Hants Community Hospital was on lock-down earlier this week, no one has been charged in relation to an event that trigged the lockdown procedure.

Staff Sgt. Cory Bushell, with the Windsor District RCMP, confirmed the police visited the hospital on Feb. 4 but said there wasn’t much else he could say about the alleged incident.

“What I can say is police were alerted that there was a violent incident of some nature and the victim was at the hospital. We attended, however, the people involved were not willing to cooperate with police,” said Bushell.

In Nova Scotia, the Gunshot Wounds Mandatory Reporting Act requires medical staff to alert police if there is a gunshot wound victim. However, there is no act that dictates staff must disclose information for other substantial injuries, like those caused by a knife or a sharp object.

“Under that act, hospital staff are obliged — as soon as practical — to notify police if someone arrives requiring treatment for a gunshot wound. They’re obliged to provide a name of the person and what facility they’re at so that we can then attend,” Bushell said.

“The hospital staff, unless it’s a gunshot wound, are not obliged to provide any information if the patient isn’t willing to disclose,” said Bushell.

The patient in question at the Windsor hospital did not have a gunshot wound.

“We did make our best efforts to determine what took place and who is involved but unfortunately the patient was not willing to cooperate,” said Bushell.

Carla Adams, a senior advisor of media relations with the Nova Scotia Health Authority, confirmed the Hants Community Hospital was on lock-down on the evening of Feb. 4.

“This was initiated for the safety of patients, visitors and staff. Patients were still being seen, but access was limited,” she wrote when contacted by email.

However, due to privacy reasons, she could not provide more details.

Bushell stressed the importance of people coming forward to report incidents to the police so they can be properly investigated.

“If there’s a takeaway message from us it’s if anyone has information on this or any other violent incident, we always encourage them to contact Crime Stoppers or their local police.”

~ with notes from Colin Chisholm