Update at 2:26 p.m. Friday, Oct. 8: The Springfield Police Department confirms that the suspect in Friday's stabbing is in custody.
Update at 11:25 a.m. Friday, Oct. 8: Mercy Springfield has confirmed on Twitter that the victim of Friday's attack is a Mercy staff member at the Surgery Center. The health care system said its "hospital and clinic entrances are not locked, but secure."
Mercy Springfield hospital went into lockdown Friday morning after a woman was stabbed in the hospital’s surgery center, according to law enforcement officials.
Lieutenant Steve Schwind with the Springfield Police Department told KSMU the stabbing occurred around 7:15 a.m. Friday and that the victim, a woman, identified her attacker as a male with whom she was previously in a domestic relationship.
The alleged attacker was still at large as of 9:15 a.m. Friday, Schwind said, but was not believed to be a threat to other individuals or the general public.
The hospital system announced on Twitter around 8:00 a.m.:
There has been an incident at our surgery center. If you have an early morning appointment, the building is currently under police lockdown. We will share updates as they become available.
— Mercy Springfield (@MercySGF) October 8, 2021
Shortly afterward, Mercy Springfield followed up with another tweet to confirm that the main hospital was also under police lockdown.
Sonya Kullmann, spokeswoman for Mercy Springfield confirmed around 9:00 a.m. that Mercy’s buildings were still locked down and that the health care system “will be contacting patients.”
Lt. Schwind said the stabbing victim is receiving care at Mercy’s emergency department and that her injuries are "not believed to be life-threatening."
Police completed their search of the surgery center, he said, and they did not find the suspect there.
Schwind confirmed that SPD have coordinated with Mercy Security to secure the crime scene. Officers have begun collecting evidence and will then hand the case over to SPD detectives.