A state trooper assigned to the hospital immediately responded to the scene, shooting and killing the alleged gunman, state police say. All staff, patients, and other people inside the hospital were removed from the building, officials said. Boston 25 spoke with Jessica Bedard, who was near the hospital when the shooting occurred.
“It was very chaotic, like the sirens and we saw multiple ambulances and fire trucks and cops standing in the road with guns blocking off streets at one point,” remarked Bedard. “It’s scary because you don’t know what’s going on – obviously something was going on to cause the response that it did – and you just want to make sure your kids are safe.”
Word of an active shooter terrified locals like Dana Mercier, whose mother is in a nearby nursing home.
“It’s horrible, Lewiston, Maine was too close to home. And now my home city,” said Mercier.
A New Hampshire State Police bomb squad unit searched a suspicious box truck on the hospital’s campus before saying the vehicle posed no safety risk. Homeland Security alerted that the suspected shooter was deceased at 4:40 p.m. State Police alerted on social media just after 4:00 p.m. that there were multiple people shot at the hospital.
New Hampshire Hospital is a psychiatric hospital aiming to “help citizens with acute mental illness stabilize their conditions and live their best lives”, according to their mission statement on the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services website. New Hamshire Governor Chris Sununu provided the following statement regarding Haas’ death on Facebook
The Franklin Police Department tells Boston 25 they will honor Haas’ memory by flying their flags at half staff and wearing mourning arm bands on their badges. North Hampshire Hospital has set up a call center for concerned loved ones to contact people who were inside the building at the time of the shooting. The call center can be reached at (603) 271-3004.
The AG’s office says they are not releasing the shooter’s identity as the investigation into the shooting continues. Autopsies are scheduled for Saturday at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Concord.
Source: Boston 25News
