By: Richard L. Smith
UPDATE: 11:37 a.m. The suspect was identified as Ms. Firdousi A. Abdul-Hakim, 37, of Newark.
Quick-thinking security officers at a Newark South Ward Hospital are being credited after they successfully stopped and detained a woman who launched a violent attack at the medical center, leaving two female nurses and a female medical resident injured Friday morning.
Sources inside the facility told RLS Media that the armed suspect, who had a connection to a patient inside the Beth Israel Hospital Pediatric ICU department, carried out a stabbing attack on a nurse who was suffered injuries to her abdomen shortly before 7:10 a.m.
The injured medical professionals were doing their jobs assisting very sick children shortly before the stabbings.
Hospital security acted swiftly to apprehend the assailant, preventing further serious harm to others in the facility.
One of the injured nurses was reportedly transported to University Hospital for medical care, with her injuries only reported as non-fatal.
As investigators delve into the motive behind the attack, authorities confirm that no fatalities have been reported at this time.
Newark Police said all the injuries were lacerations in nature.
It is not clear if a verbal altercation erupted before the violent attack. The use of metal detectors have not been confirmed at this time.
The incident remains under active investigation to shed more light on what transpired during the incident.