Saturday, Aug. 30, 2008

Suicide in ER: Armed officer had been on job for 2 months

The corrections officer whose gun was taken and used by a woman to commit suicide in Palmetto Health Richland’s emergency room Tuesday had been on the job for two months.

But the female officer, whom the department declined to identify, had completed all the necessary training requirements, according to department spokesman Josh Gelinas.

Two officers were transporting a high-risk inmate to the hospital Tuesday night when 29-year-old Lorelei Gibbons of Elgin — who was a hospital patient and not an inmate — took the gun from one of the officers and shot herself in the head. Gibbons died Thursday.

Neither officer has a history of disciplinary actions, Gelinas said.

The officer carrying the gun had been on the job since June. The other officer, who was unarmed per department policy, had been with the department since 2003.

Both officers had completed a five-week training course that includes one week of firearms training — all that is required of corrections officers, Gelinas said.

“She was compliant,” he said. “She was certified to do what she was doing.”

Gelinas would not release the officers’ names or comment on why the less experienced officer was carrying the weapon. He said the department is investigating.

An autopsy had not been performed on Gibbons’ body because her family members had consented to donate her organs, Richland County Coroner Gary Watts said.

Attempts to reach Gibbons family were unsuccessful Friday.

Reach Beam at (803) 771-8405.