A 32-year-old paraplegic resident in an Illinois nursing home was arrested and charged with the fatal shooting of a 77-year-old resident, also living in the facility. The accused man is a previously convicted felon, and it is unknown how he gained access to the gun. He was shot in 2014 during a Chicago incident that injured his spinal cord and caused him to be confined to a wheelchair. He remains in jail after being held without bond.
The victim died shortly after he was taken to the hospital. The incident occurred about 3 a.m. on Saturday August 8, 2020.
The local police, along with the facility’s administrator, have declined to provide any additional information regarding the shooting or what may have led to the incident.
Illinois has a law prohibiting anyone from carrying a weapon into a nursing home. A spokesperson from the Illinois Department of Public Health (DPOH) told news media that the Nursing Home Care Act does not specifically address the issue of weapons in long-term care facilities, but the state requires individual facilities to keep residents safe.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) also requires individual facilities to implement policies and procedures to protect residents and keep them safe.
The facility’s employee code of conduct does not specifically address the permissibility of having weapons on the facility’s premises. Whether any employee was aware that the accused shooter had a gun is not known.
Compliance Perspective
Failing to prevent a resident from possessing a weapon and then using it to harm another resident, may be viewed as a failure to provide a safe environment. This failure, combined with inadequate policies and procedures regarding the possession of weapons in the facility by anyone, may place residents and staff alike in immediate jeopardy, in violation of state and federal regulations.
Discussion Points:
- Review policies and procedures regarding the prohibition of weapons by staff or residents, and the facility’s response plan for reacting to an active shooter emergency-situation.
- Train staff on the facility’s policies and procedures prohibiting the possession of weapons by staff or residents, and the facility’s Active Shooter Response Program.
- Periodically audit to ensure that staff are aware of the facility’s policies and procedures regarding weapons, and ensure through mock drills that staff are trained to respond to an active shooter situation.
