The nurse who was fatally stabbed in the chest Tuesday in an attack at an East Texas medical complex "was protecting her patients by an act of courage, and she lost her life as a result," the hospital said.
Gail Sandidge, who worked at the Ambulatory Surgical Center of Good Shepherd Medical Center in Longview for 22 years, left a patient to see the commotion and when she turned a corner she was stabbed.
"She was just saying he got me or I'm hurt, he got me, and that's when we realized there was blood all on the front of her scrubs," one witness told KLTV.com.
Victoria Ashworth, the director of communications from the hospital, told FoxNews.com that Sandidge was attempting to diffuse the situation.
"Instead of running from the scene, she ran toward the the issue," Ashworth said. "That's in a lot of nurses' DNA."
Authorities identified the suspect as Kyron Rayshawn Templeton, 22, who has been charged with murder and accused of four counts of aggravated assault. He was at the hospital with his mother, police said.
Officer Kristie Brian, a Longview police spokeswoman, said it's not yet clear what led to the attack. One witness told KLTV.com that the attacker looked confused and ran in their direction, saying, "You're not going to kill my mama; you're not going to kill my mama."
Templeton fled on foot but was caught nearby, subdued after a brief struggle and arrested, police said.
Of the four others wounded, one was in critical condition, one was in good condition and two were treated at the hospital and discharged, Steve Altmiller, the CEO of the hospital said.
Neither Templeton nor the arresting officers were injured, Brian said. A knife believed to have been the weapon used in the attack has been recovered, she said.
Surveillance video was being reviewed by the hospital's security team and would be turned over to police, said Kenny Jernigan, Good Shepherd's security director.
Good Shepherd Medical Center is a 425-bed acute-care hospital about 120 miles southeast of Dallas. All surgeries scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday were postponed and were being rescheduled, Altmiller said.
Fox News' Edmund DeMarche and The Associated Press contributed to this report
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