The gunman who opened fire at a Pennsylvania hospital after taking employees hostage in a deadly attack over the weekend was “broken” after learning a loved one had died in the intensive care unit, according to a doctor who broke the news.
Diogenes Archangel-Ortiz, 49, killed a cop and injured five others when he stormed the UPMC Memorial Hospital armed with a pistol and zipties on Saturday, before being killed in a shootout with cops.
“I spoke with the very man who did this act, interacting with him multiple days,” Lestor Mendoza, a physician assistant at the hospital in York, wrote in a lengthy Facebook post.
“I was there when we delivered the worst news imaginable to him — that his loved one was gone,” Mendoza said of Archangel-Ortiz.
“I saw his devastation firsthand. In that moment, I truly did not see a monster. He was simply broken,” he wrote.
“Just the day prior, my colleague and I shared our own personal memories of experience of loss with this man. We developed a human connection as he showed us pictures of his loved one, an engagement gift of a beautiful pink and white necklace and watch, which I thanked him for sharing and he thanked me for sharing mine,” Mendoza continued.
It comes after prosecutors confirmed the suspect appeared to have contact with the ICU “for a medical purpose involving another person” — but stopped short of releasing any further details.
Prosecutors also wouldn’t disclose Archangel-Ortiz’s relationship to the person, citing privacy concerns.
“I would have never imagined or expected him to do something like this,” Mendoza said.
“But grief, exhaustion, isolation, and a lack of mental health and social support services create cracks that people fall through. And when they do, the consequences can be catastrophic.”
The deadly ordeal unfolded when Archangel-Ortiz stormed the ICU and took a female staffer hostage, zip-tying her hands behind her back, cops said.
West York Borough Police Department officer Andrew Duarte was killed in a shootout with the perp.
A doctor, a nurse, a custodian, and two other officers were also shot and wounded during the brazen saga, authorities said. No patients were injured.
The Post reached out to cops about the motive, but didn’t hear back immediately.
