TEWKSBURY — Chief Ryan Columbus reports that the Tewksbury Police Department has responded to another incident at Tewksbury State Hospital.
On Friday, April 17, at approximately 9:49 a.m., Tewksbury Police were radioed to Tewksbury State Hospital by campus police for assistance after it was reported that a staff member had been assaulted by a patient.
Upon arrival, officers located an adult male patient. The patient appeared to be secured to a chair and administered medication prior to the officer’s arrival.
A preliminary investigation determined that the patient went up to the nurses’ station and was acting erratically. When one of the mental health workers approached him, the patient stood in a fighting position and struck the employee in the face twice.
A subsequent investigation determined that the patient has an extensive violent criminal history.
The patient is being charged with Assault and Battery on a Health Care Worker.
The incident remains under investigation by Tewksbury Police.
“Today’s unprovoked attack is another example of the dangers hospital staff face every day. I recognize that this incident may have occurred regardless of the decision to remove less-lethal tools from public safety officers,” said Chief Columbus. “However, when the Department of Public Health portrays this setting solely as a therapeutic environment, without acknowledging the very real risks present in what can also be a dangerous workplace, it underscores how the decision to remove less-lethal tools from public safety may not have been in the best interest of overall safety. I recently heard from the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security, and I am encouraged that they are now reviewing the matter.”