A gunman who held medical staff hostage before killing a police officer and wounding five others at a hospital in south-central Pennsylvania Saturday is believed to have visited the facility in the days leading up to the incident,

Officer Duarte had just celebrated his 30th birthday on Feb. 17, less than a week before Saturday’s shooting, according to the York County Coroner’s Office. He had been a West York police officer since June 2022 after serving five years with the Denver Police Department in Colorado.

Violence against healthcare workers is on the rise as seen by an attack at a Pennsylvania hospital. A gunman took hostages before exchanges of gunfire that killed a police officer and wounded five other people at a York County,