A recent spree of violent stabbings left two California nurses stabbed on the job with a pencil and a knife.
The first of the unrelated crimes happened at the Olive View-UCLA Medical Center in Sylmar just after 2 a.m. on Sunday when cops say Romiro Carnalla, 26, of Los Angeles, rushed into the hospital and skipped the weapons screening area.
The deputies and security officers ran after the man, but lost track of him. They then heard a woman scream and found a nurse stabbed several times in the upper and lower torso, according to a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department news release.
Carnalla was taken into custody at the hospital on charges of assault with a deadly weapon. A knife was recovered at the scene, the news release said.
The nurse was taken to a trauma center for treatment and is in critical condition.
It’s unlikely the nurse and the suspect knew each other, Lt. Rich Burgoyne told the Los Angeles Times, and it’s unknown if Carnalla has a history of mental issues, he added.
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies also arrested Thomas Robert Fredette, 38, for stabbing a nurse with a pencil at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center.
AP
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies also arrested Thomas Robert Fredette, 38, for stabbing a nurse with a pencil at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center.
As of Sunday night, Carnalla had not been booked into jail. His bail is set at $35,000, however.
The second stabbing happened hours later at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center.
Deputies arrested Thomas Robert Fredette, 38, of Santee, after he came up to a group of nurses and allegedly grabbed one from behind and stabbed her in the ear with a pencil.
The nurse broke free of his grasp and ran away. She pointed to the suspect when officers arrived to the hospital.
The pencil was recovered as evidence.
The nurse received non-life threatening injuries, another news release said.
Fredette is in custody at the county jail on felony charges of assault with a deadly weapon. His bail is set at $30,000.
