Patient charged in stabbing of doctor at Pennsylvania Hospital
Philadelphia Police arrested a man who stabbed a doctor who was treating him. The doctor is in stable condition after being stabbed multiple times in the face and head.
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The man who police say stabbed a doctor in the head and face as she treated him at a Center City hospital on Tuesday has been charged with aggravated assault and related crimes, the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office announced Wednesday.
Rakeem Anderson, 35, whose motive for the attack at Pennsylvania Hospital is still unknown, was also charged with possession of an instrument of crime, simple assault and reckless endangerment.
Jane Roh, a spokesperson for the DA’s Office, said prosecutors would ask that Anderson be held on $999,999 bail and that a mental health evaluation be ordered. Roh, who said Anderson is wanted on a bench warrant in Delaware County, said authorities are still investigating.
The attack occurred shortly before 3 p.m. at the historic hospital in the 800 block of Spruce Street. Anderson was taken into custody shortly after the attack and the weapon he is alleged to have used was recovered, police said.
The victim, whose name was not released, was in stable condition after the attack and is recovering, hospital officials said.
“There was no danger at any time to other patients or staff in the hospital. All hospital operations continue as usual, and we are cooperating with law enforcement in their investigation of this incident,” a hospital spokesperson said Tuesday.
The hospital, which opened in 1751, is one of the oldest in the country.