A patient at Evanston Hospital and her husband were shot to death in the woman’s room Tuesday evening in an apparent murder-suicide, according to hospital and police officials.
The couple’s identity was not being released Tuesday, however, Evanston Police Cmdr. Michael Perry said the man is 71 years old and the woman 66. He said the woman had cancer and had suffered two strokes, the latest one Sunday.
“After the second stroke on Sunday, the gentleman, apparently distraught, came to the hospital, took her life and then took his own,” Perry said.
He said the investigation was continuing and that information available late Tuesday pointed toward a murder and suicide. No note or other communication from either the husband or wife had been found as of Tuesday evening, he said.
He declined to describe the type of gun that the man used.
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Gail Polzin, a spokeswoman for Evanston Hospital, said the woman was a patient in a medical-surgical section and was in a private room. She said hospital staff did not hear a gunshot. A nurse making routine checks found the bodies when she entered the room shortly after 8 p.m., Polzin said.
The hospital staff reacted with shock to the shootings, she said.
“The hospital is here to take care of the sick, so this is very shocking and upsetting,” she said.
“We will have social workers here on Wednesday to assist our employees and to offer support in any way we can.”
“We do have security guards on the premises, but we have no metal detectors or anything of that kind. We’ve never had a reason to,” she said.