Ex-soldier in need of help takes 3 hospital workers hostage

Ex-soldier takes 3 hospital workers hostage

By Russ Bynum - The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Sep 7, 2010 12:03:53 EDT

SAVANNAH, Ga. — A former Army soldier seeking help for mental problems at a Georgia military hospital took three workers hostage at gunpoint Monday before authorities persuaded him to surrender.

No one was hurt and no shots were fired in the short standoff at Winn Army Community Hospital on Fort Stewart, about 40 miles southwest of Savannah, said fort spokesman Kevin Larson. Military officials said the hostages were able to calm the gunman and keep him away from patients until he surrendered.

Military police arrested the gunman, who was being questioned Monday afternoon. His name was not immediately released.

Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Phillips, a senior Fort Stewart commander, said the former soldier was seeking help for mental problems that were "connected, I'm quite certain, to his past service."

"He hadn't gotten the care that he wanted and he wanted it now," Phillips said, based on what one of the hostages had told him. "He'd had some experiences that could lead one to believe there were aftereffects to his service."
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Ex soldier takes 3 hospital workers hostage