A firefighter was in stable condition Wednesday, recovering from a stab wound allegedly inflicted by a patient he had transported from a downtown Greyhound bus terminal to a Boyle Heights hospital, authorities said.
“Two people on the emergency room staff were also injured in the struggle to subdue the suspect after the stabbing,” Los Angeles Fire Department Assistant Chief Mark Storms told City News Service. Their injuries are minor, he said.
Christopher Clay, 46, was booked on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, according to Los Angeles police, and was being held on $50,000 bail.
The assault took place about 9:35 p.m. Tuesday in the emergency room of White Memorial Medical Center.
“The firefighter had transported the man to the hospital when he suddenly pulled out a knife and stabbed the firefighter in the arm,” said Lt. Jose Martinez, the watch commander at the LAPD’s Hollenbeck Station.
“We don’t yet know why he did it because he is refusing to talk to us,” Martinez said.
Storms said the 38-year-old wounded firefighter is assigned to Rescue 804, which operates out of the downtown fire station on Seventh Street near Temple Street.
“His unit responded to a 911 call for a medical emergency at the Greyhound bus terminal,” Storms said. “The unit transported a man to the hospital right after he got off a Greyhound bus.”
Storms said he couldn’t discuss what Clay was being treated for because of medical privacy issues, but he believed there were some emotional issues affecting the suspect.
The firefighter, whose name was withheld, was transferred from White to a trauma center for follow-up care, Storms said.
—Staff and wire reports