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November 20, 2024
A Wave of Gun Violence Sweeping Through U.S. Hospitals
Family of Security
Guard Killed at
Hospital Sues
Facility for $35M
(AP) — The family of a security guard
who was shot and killed at a hospital in
Portland, Oregon, sued the facility for $35
million on Tuesday, accusing it of negli-
gence and failing to respond to the dangers
that the gunman posed to hospital staff
over multiple days.
In a wrongful death complaint filed
Tuesday, the estate of Bobby Smallwood
argued that Legacy Good Samaritan Med-
ical Center failed to enforce its policies
against violence and weapons in the work-
place by not barring the shooter from the
facility, despite staff reporting threats and
aggression toward them in the days before
the shooting.
“The repeated failures of Legacy Good
Samaritan to follow their own safety pro-
tocols directly led to the tragically prevent-
able death of Bobby Smallwood,” Tom
D’Amore, the attorney representing the
family, said in a statement. “Despite doc-
umented threats and abusive behavior that
required immediate removal under hos-
pital policy, Legacy allowed a dangerous
individual to remain on the premises for
three days until those threats escalated to
violence.”
In an email, Legacy Health said it was
unable to comment on pending litigation.
Portland Police respond to a shooting at the Legacy Good Samaritan Medical Center
in Portland, Ore., July 22, 2023. (Maxine Bernstein/The Oregonian via AP, File)
The shooting at Legacy Good Samaritan
Medical Center in Portland was part of a
wave of gun violence sweeping through
U.S. hospitals and medical centers, which
have struggled to adapt to the growing
threats. Such attacks have helped make
health care one of the nation’s most violent
fields. Health care workers racked up 73%
of all nonfatal workplace violence injuries
in 2018, the most recent year for which
figures are available, according to the U.S.
Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The gunman at the Portland hospital,
PoniaX Calles, first visited the facility on
July 19, 2023, as his partner was about to
give birth. On July 20 and July 21, nurs-
ing staff and security guards filed multiple
incident reports describing outbursts, vio-
lent behavior and threats, but they weren’t
accessible or provided to workers who
were interacting with him, according to
the complaint.
On July 22, nurse supervisors decided to
remove Calles from his partner’s room, and
Smallwood accompanied him to the wait-
ing room area outside the maternity ward.
Other security guards searching the room
found two loaded firearms in a duffel bag,
and his partner told them he likely had a
third gun on his person, the complaint said.
According to the complaint, over 40
minutes passed between the discovery of
the duffel bag and Smallwood’s death.
Two minutes before he was shot, a securi-
ty guard used hand gestures through glass
doors to notify him that Calles was armed.
Smallwood then told Calles he would pat
him down, but Calles said he would leave
instead. Smallwood began escorting him
out of the hospital, and as other staff mem-
bers approached them, Calles shot Small-
wood in the neck.
The hospital did not call a “code silver,”
the emergency code for an active shooter,
until after Smallwood had been shot, the
complaint said. Smallwood’s family said
his death has profoundly impacted them.
“Every day we grieve the loss of our son
and all the years ahead that should have
been his to live,” his parents, Walter “Bob”
and Tammy Smallwood, said in the state-
ment released by their attorney. “Nothing
can bring Bobby back, but we will not stop
fighting until Legacy is held fully respon-
sible for what they took from our family.”
After the shooting, Legacy said it
planned to install additional metal detec-
tors; require bag searches at every hospi-
tal; equip more security officers with stun
guns; and apply bullet-slowing film to
some interior glass and at main entrances.
Around 40 states have passed laws cre-
ating or increasing penalties for violence
against health care workers, according to
the American Nurses Association. Hospi-
tals have armed security officers with ba-
tons, stun guns or handguns, while some
states allow hospitals to create their own
police forces.
Economy and Jobs Made Men
Under Age 45 More Open to Trump
Trump Gained a
Larger Share of
Black and Latino
Voters Than He
Did in 2020
(AP) — Brian Leija, a 31-year-old
small-business owner from Belton, Texas,
was not surprised that a growing number
of Latino men of his generation voted for
Donald Trump for president this year. Lei-
ja had voted for the Republican in 2016
and 2020.
Leija’s rationale was simple: He said
he has benefited from Trump’s econom-
ic policies, especially tax cuts. “I am a
blue-collar worker,” Leija said. “So, tax
breaks for small businesses are ideal for
what I do.” For DaSean Gallishaw, a con-
sultant in Fairfax, Virginia, a vote for
Trump was rooted in what he saw as Dem-
ocrats’ rhetoric not matching their actions.
“It’s been a very long time since the Dem-
Supporters of for President Donald Trump with signs and t-shirts. (AP Photo/Mariam
Zuhaib, File)
ocrats ever really kept their promises to Trump gained a larger share of Black and
what they’re going to do for the minority Latino voters than he did in 2020, when
communities,” he said.
he lost to Democrat Joe Biden, and most
Gallishaw, 25, who is Black, also voted notably among men under age 45, accord-
for Trump twice before. This year, he said, ing to AP VoteCast, a nationwide survey of
he thought the former president’s “minori- more than 120,000 voters. Even as Dem-
ty community outreach really showed up.” ocrat Kamala Harris won majorities of
Black and Latino voters, it wasn’t enough
to give the vice president the White House,
because of the gains Trump made.
Voters overall cited the economy and
jobs as the most important issue the coun-
try faced. That was true for Black and
Hispanic voters as well. About 3 in 10
Black men under age 45 went for Trump,
roughly double the share he got in 2020.
Young Latinos, particularly young Latino
men, also were more open to Trump than
in 2020. Roughly half of young Latino men
voted for Harris, compared with about 6 in
10 who went for Biden.
Juan Proaño, CEO of LULAC, the
nation’s largest and oldest civil rights
organization for Hispanic Americans,
said the election results make it clear
that Trump’s messaging on the econ-
omy resonated with Latinos. “I think
it’s important to say that Latinos have
a significant impact in deciding who
the next president was going to be and
reelected Donald Trump,” Proaño said.
"(Latino) men certainly responded to
the populist message of the president
and focused primarily on economic is-
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