Deputies shoot, kill man who allegedly pointed a gun at them inside NC hospital

ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. (WTVD) -- Deputies shot and killed a man Tuesday at a North Carolina hospital after authorities said he pointed a gun at them.

Law enforcement officers arrived at Sentara Albemarle Medical Center in Elizabeth City at 1:18 a.m. in response to a call about a man who had entered the hospital's emergency room with a handgun, according to the Pasquotank County Sheriff's Office.

The man allegedly pointed his gun at several staff members, and a security guard tried to restrain him before deputies arrived.

Authorities found the suspect in the emergency triage room, and three of the deputies fired at him after he pointed his weapon at them. The man received medical treatment but was later pronounced dead at the scene.

None of the officers involved in the shooting was injured, according to the sheriff's office. The security guard who tried to subdue the man was injured and later treated at the hospital. The guard was unarmed at the time, the hospital's president, Teresa Watson, said in a news conference.

Download the ABC11 App and get Breaking News and Weather 24/7

The three deputies who shot their weapons were placed on administrative leave with pay as they await an investigation by the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation to conclude.

Pasquotank Sheriff Tommy Wooten declined to provide additional details about the suspect because of the pending investigation.

SEE ALSO | Goldsboro police release bodycam footage of violent arrest in January

The Associated Press contributed to this report.