SHERWOOD, Ark. — For the staff, patients, and visitors at CHI St. Vincent North, Wednesday morning started out just as any other day.
Their day quickly took a turn for the worse, as they were faced with reports of an active shooter inside the hospital.
"I [have] never just really been through nothing like this. It was kind of scary [and] I was just trying to get to safety," one CHI St. Vincent North employee said.
They expected to do their usual work as they do most days, but things quickly took a turn.
"We did our first-morning vitals and we were just going through checking out everybody," another employee said.
Normality quickly turned to fear shortly before 10:00 a.m. when authorities said Raymond Lovett began to shoot a visitor on the fourth floor of the hospital building.
"Everybody started running," said someone who works inside the hospital. "We went into a patient room, we barricaded ourselves in there [and] we put the bed in front of the door and everything."
At that point, workers and patients like Jeff Russell were all notified that an active shooter was inside.
"Somebody came by the room quick ad closed the door and said 'we're on lockdown and nobody leaves this room,'" Russell explained.
He had been on the first floor getting an x-ray— and seconds he heard the lockdown announcement.
Luckily, he was able to leave and get to safety.
"[Someone] came in and said, 'we've got to get everybody out of the building and follow and they took us out a different door," Russell said
He described the scene as being terrifying.
"It was scary. I was worried about where my wife was because she had been out in the lobby while I was in X-ray," Russell added.
His sentiments also reflect those of everyone who was inside as people waited in a state of suspense and didn't know what would be happening next.
"We had to have our hands up [and] we had to go one-by-one," one hospital employee said. "When I ran out, my mom was across the street and I was just looking for her [and] I was on the phone and I was very emotional and I was crying," the employee described.
Hospital employees said that though they are trained for situations like this, things are much different when the unthinkable actually happens.
"I've never been in an active shooting situation. This was like very scary. I was very real," the employee said.
Following the incident, the suspect's sister reached out to us and revealed that Raymond Lovett stopped by her home after the shooting before turning himself in.
She said that he told family members that he would be going to jail for a long time and that he had shot someone. She also made the following statement:
"Truly protecting your girl does not justify him doing this whatsoever. It's really horrible and sad. And I feel so sorry for the families out there that are involved in this and affected by this because I can tell you that me and my family are definitely affected by this and in shock."
The family said that the police arrived immediately after Raymond left the home with a few remaining weapons and some belongings from his room.
The family also stated that Raymond had a history of anger issues, PTSD, and other mental health problems, which they believe he stopped getting treatment for months ago.
We have worked to reach out to the victim's family, but have not yet heard back.