Police officers fatally shot an armed man who opened fire inside a hospital room in Irving Wednesday night, police say.
It happened at about 8 p.m. inside a patient room in the emergency wing of Baylor Scott & White Medical Center.
A nurse went into a room to check on a 34-year-old Michael McPhail and noticed he had a gun, prompting her to call for police, Irving police spokesman Robert Reeves said in a news conference outside of the hospital.
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“He was just there for a standard medical issue," Reeves said. "It wasn’t anything mental health-related or along those lines.”
Investigators have not released further details on the "medical issue" that brought McPhail to the hospital, citing HIPAA patient privacy concerns. Reeves said the nurse described his behavior and the fact that he had a gun as concerning.
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"It wasn't a situation where she walked in and someone's like, 'oh, I accidentally brought my gun in here.' That wouldn't have been alarming, right? She'd been like, 'OK, well, we need to get that out of here.' It was his behavior with the possession of that firearm that caused her concern, and that's why she called the police department," Reeves said.
A hospital police officer and an Irving police officer who was at the hospital on an unrelated call confronted McPhail.
As more officers began arriving at the hospital, McPhail fired one gunshot into the hospital room, police said. Officers tried to talk McPhail into dropping the gun, but he pointed the gun at the officers and subsequently fired the gun at them, police said.
The officers shot back, striking him.
“They started having a dialog with him trying to convince him to drop the gun," Reeves said. "He refuses to do that and actually ends up shooting at those officers. They return fire in defense of themselves and everybody there in the hospital.”
McPhail died from his injuries, police said.
No one else was hurt.
Irving police said the investigation is in the early stages and are asking anyone with information about the incident to call 972-273-1010.
Anyone who may have witnessed the shooting and is in need of talking to someone can get free counseling services from the Irving Family Advocacy Center. You can call them at 972-721-6560.
