Minn. hospital patient attacks nurses with metal pipe

MAPLEWOOD, Minn. (KABC) -- A Minnesota hospital patient goes berserk and begins attacking nurses with a large metal pipe he obtained by disassembling his hospital bed.

The entire incident - caught on camera - points out the danger that hospital employees can face.

The 68-year-old man surprised nurses at around 2 a.m., running through the hospital with the bar. He injured four people, including one nurse who suffered a collapsed lung.

Police confronted the man with a Taser. He died later that night.

"By every stretch of the imagination, this was a highly violent incident," a police spokesman said.

Violence in hospitals is not entirely unusual. About 60 percent of all non-fatal assaults and violent acts in the workplace occurred in the health care industry, according to a 2010 study by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Thirty-one states have laws in place aimed at protecting nurses.

Fellow patient Adam Linn witnessed the attack.

"There should have been more help for these nurses. They're there to help people. Who was there to help them when it happened," Linn said.

The man's cause of death was under investigation.