BOSTON (WHDH) — Everyone at Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary knew something was wrong.
“We heard a couple of kind of frenzied announcements. Code grey — lobby. Code grey — emergency room. We were wondering what a code grey was,” said Hilary Clark, who was at Mass. Eye and Ear Wednesday when a sheriff’s deputy was shot by an inmate. “Nobody really knew what a code grey was, so we googled it and found out it was a security thing.”
“That means there’s some disruption. Somebody is attacking somebody, you know, concern for something going on,” said Dr. Priya Janardhana, who was working at the hospital at the time.
Two sheriff’s deputies transported a Middlesex County inmate to the hospital for treatment. A struggle ensued after the deputies removed the inmate’s handcuffs and he grabbed at one of the deputy’s gun. The deputy was shot in the leg, and then the other deputy shot the inmate.
The emergency room at the hospital was immediately shut down. Critical cases were transferred to nearby Massachusetts General Hospital, which regularly handles more traumas. Police secured the building as patients and doctors were forced to wait it out.
“I just think it was, you know, frightening to see such things happening in a place like that,” said one woman.
For about an hour the hospital was on lockdown. Patients were not allowed to come and go and doctors were told to stay in exam rooms or their officers.
The deputy is expected to be okay. The inmate is in critical condition at Mass. General.