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North Carolina hospital was secured by police after a shooting left one person wounded. According to News Observer, at 8:17 pm police responded to reports of an active shooting at the Wayne UNC Health Care Hospital in Goldsboro. The hospital was placed under lockdown until 9:10 pm.
In a statement, Wayne County Sheriff spokesperson Joel Gillie described the shooting as being a targeted attack. After the attack began, a SWAT team searched each floor of the North Carolina hospital, however it is believed the shooter fled the premises.
As of now, North Carolina authorities have not yet revealed further details. The victim of the attack is in stable condition with a non-life-threatening injury. The case remains under investigation by local authorities.
What happened at the North Carolina hospital?
The shooting occurred on Sunday night at the Wayne UNC Health Care Hospital at 2700 Wayne Memorial Drive.
According to News 18, the gunman was allegedly searching for a specific person. Gillie claimed that the issue was personal, presenting his theory that it may be related to domestic abuse. The sole victim of the attack was a woman, believed to be a member of staff at the hospital. The identity of the shooter remains unknown.
Despite a thorough search of the North Carolina hospital by a SWAT team, the suspect managed to evade the authorities. North Carolina authorities have announced that a manhunt has begun.
The shooting followed a spike in attacks across the country, including high-profile shootings and attacks in New York, Pennsylvania and Texas. The attack at the North Carolina hospital also follows two other attacks at medical centers, including the Warren Clinic shooting in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and the stabbings at the Encino Hospital in Los Angeles, California.
According to statistics released by the FBI, new data reveals that the USA faced its largest annual increase in homicides in 2020, with the homicide rate increasing by almost 30% in 2020, and then rising by an additional 5% in 2021.
As per The Gun Violence Archive, in the first 5 months of 2022, the nation faced 231 mass shootings, 15119 gun-related injuries, and 8031 fatal shootings. Of the victims, 1924 of them were teenagers, and 466 were children. Since 2014 a total of 34500 children have died from gun deaths. According to the Trace, more than 6500 of these child victims were under the age of 12.
In a statement about the spike in shootings in the US, President Joe Biden condemned gun lobbies for their role in making arms widely available across the country.
He said:
"As a nation, we have to ask, when in God's name are we going to stand up to the gun lobby?"
He added:
"I am sick and tired of it. We have to act. Don't tell me we can't have an impact on this carnage."
The spate of violence has provoked various debates about mass shootings in the country. While some blame the country’s lax gun laws, others argue that it is reflective of inadequate mental health treatment.
