Officers praised for Nepean Hospital shooting

A police officer straight out of the academy and his senior are being heralded for stopping a potentially dangerous attack, after they shot a man at Nepean Hospital. 

The 54-year-old drove his four-wheel drive into the ambulance bay of the hospital just after 4pm yesterday, and allegedly approached security with a knife in each hand threatening he had a bomb.

Luckily, there were two police officers that just happened to be at the hospital at the exact moment the incident unfolded.

A probationary constable who only graduated in August fired his taser at the man as he allegedly lunged towards them.

The senior constable with him fired his gun.

“It’s very fortunate two police were there and they responded quickly and I commend the officers for the work they did,” said Assistant Commissioner Mark Jones.

The man remains stable in hospital, but he is in an induced coma.

Police have established a close relative of the suspect was a patient at the hospital and died earlier this year. It’s unclear if that was the motivation for yesterday’s attack.

It’s the second shooting at Neapean hospital in two years.