Man charged with attempted murder, assault after four people injured at Halifax hospital

Three people were injured during a 'weapons complaint' at the QEII hospital in Halifax on Wednesday.

A 32-year-old Halifax man has been charged with attempted murder after four people – including staff members – were injured at the Halifax Infirmary’s emergency department on Wednesday.

Halifax Regional Police (HRP) responded to the QEII hospital on Bell Road around 1 p.m. after receiving a report of a man with a knife.

Police say the armed man, who was receiving care at the hospital, stabbed two people in the emergency department and injured two others by throwing objects at them.

One of the victims sustained “significant injuries,” according to an HRP news release.

Police located and arrested Nicholas Robert Coulombe around 1:10 p.m.

Coulombe is facing the following nine charges:

- attempted murder

- three counts of assault with a weapon

- three counts of aggravated assault

- two counts of possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose

Coulombe is due in court on Feb. 4 for a show cause hearing.

Nova Scotia Minister of Health and Wellness Michelle Thompson couldn’t provide many details on the state of the victims but said “they are stable.”

“And we’re very concerned about those individuals’ well-being, and we wish them a speedy recovery physically,” she said. “But we know it was a very scary situation and it’s going to take some time for them to recover.”

Nova Scotia Health says it’s increased its spending on security. The health authority has budgeted $20 million for security this year – $8 million more than last year.

Even with that increase, Thompson says it’s impossible to prevent every incident.

“We do our very best … There’s a number of reviews underway that help us understand what did happen yesterday, whether there were things that could have been done differently in order to implement different changes or learn,” she said.

Thompson said, as a result of Wednesday’s attack, metal detector wands were implemented at the emergency department on Thursday.

“If I could change what happened yesterday, I absolutely would,” said Thompson. “We are committed to this, we’ve been talking about it, there have been initiatives in play, and we know there’s more to do.”

As to whether the metal detector wands will remain, Thompson says they first need to understand what the best practices are.

“We certainly had an opportunity to speak with other colleagues here today and we’re going to do a jurisdictional scan. What I want people to be assured is that we are going to do whatever we can to create that environment that’s safer,” she said.

Karen Oldfield, CEO of Nova Scotia Health, says staff are being trained now how to use the hand-held metal detectors. However, she doesn’t feel the move is the solution to the problem.

“What’s going to make it safer is having staff and security personnel trained on how to recognize, to mobilize and have things quickly available,” said Oldfield.

Thompson also noted Nova Scotia Health will be conducting a quality review, which is common following an incident.

Calls for more security

The incident has intensified long-standing concerns about safety in health-care settings.

“I understand physically these individuals are going to be OK, but what’s the mental toll going to be on them. How are they going to feel safer? How are they going to feel coming back to the workplace?” said Kimberly LeBlanc, president of Canadian Nurses Association.

“I think there has to be shift in workplace culture. There’s signs everywhere saying zero abuse. That has to be reinforced … we need more security and need more support for security.”

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