Metro Nashville Police responded to an active shooter a St. Thomas Midtown Hospital early Saturday after multiple calls were received of shots fired from inside the hospital. Security advised they heard two shots fired from inside a stairwell, and the gunman was now on the fourth level of the stairs after having entered through a back door to the hospital. Officers located and confronted the man, identified as 33-year-old Nicholas Zaayenga, who was eventually taken into custody. He was armed and had multiple magazines of ammunition in his possession, and was firing at in interior door when he was located. Multiple bullet casings were located in the same area.
Nurses at the hospital say they received no notification of the danger, but the Chief Nursing Officer eventually stated there was a “failure” in the notification system.
Nicholas Perre Zaayenga, of Austin, TX, was booked into the Metro Nashville Jail, charged with criminal trespassing, reckless endangerment/assault with a deadly weapon, vandalism, and possession of a weapon where a sign prohibits it. A judicial commissioner set his bond at $77,000.
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