Campus Alert Archive
UPMC Memorial

Zip Ties and Duct Tape in the ICU: A Gunman Takes Hostages at a York County Hospital

PAactive shooteremergency notificationmedium confidence
Confirmed Threat

On the morning of February 22, 2025, 49-year-old Diogenes Archangel-Ortiz entered the intensive care unit at UPMC Memorial Hospital in Shiloh, within West Manchester Township near York, Pennsylvania, carrying a pistol, zip ties, and duct tape, and took hospital staff hostage before opening fire. A responding West York police officer, Andrew Duarte, was killed by gunfire during the police response, and the gunman was also killed; six other people — three officers, a doctor, a nurse, and a custodian — were wounded, and a seventh staff member was hurt in a fall.

Alerts
2
Response
—
Killed
1
Injured
7
Institution
UPMC Memorial Hospital
Private R1 · PA
EverbridgeUPMC Emergency Notification
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

2 messages in sequence

Some alert texts below are approximate reconstructions from news coverage, not confirmed verbatim transcripts. Reconstructed texts are shown in italic with a dashed border. Verified verbatim texts have a solid border and are marked accordingly.

INITIAL ALERTSMS
Approximate reconstruction141 chars
UPMC ALERT: Active threat at UPMC Memorial Hospital. Run, hide, fight. Do not enter the building. Avoid the area. More information to follow.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

Reconstructed wording based on the standard 'Run, Hide, Fight' framing UPMC and area agencies used; no official notification text was published, so this alert is honestly marked unconfirmed.
The shooting began at roughly 10:35 AM EST when the gunman took hostages in the ICU, per the incident timeline reconstructed by Wikipedia and York-area outlets.
ALL CLEARSMS
Approximate reconstruction205 chars
UPMC UPDATE: The active threat at UPMC Memorial Hospital has been neutralized. Law enforcement is on scene investigating. The hospital remains closed to visitors. Follow instructions from staff and police.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

Reconstructed all-clear; the gunman was shot by officers around 11:13 AM EST, ending the active phase about 38 minutes after it began.
Framed as an all-clear of the active threat while preserving that the building stayed closed to visitors during the investigation, consistent with how the hospital communicated afterward.
Context

Background

The February 22, 2025 attack at UPMC Memorial Hospital, a UPMC academic health system hospital in Shiloh, within West Manchester Township near York, Pennsylvania, was one of the deadliest US hospital shootings in recent years. According to CNN, the gunman entered carrying a semi-automatic pistol along with zip ties and duct tape, took staff hostage in the ICU, and opened fire. WESA reported that West York Borough Officer Andrew Duarte was killed and that a doctor, nurse, custodian, and additional officers were wounded; the District Attorney later said Duarte was struck by officer gunfire during the exchange with the gunman. The shooting prompted national hospital-security responses and renewed scrutiny of weapons screening in clinical settings. UPMC's emergency notifications are not publicly archived, so the alert text here is an honest reconstruction of the run-hide-fight messaging used during the event.
Analysis

Key Findings

A gunman armed with a pistol, zip ties, and duct tape took ICU staff hostage, signaling premeditation rather than an impulsive ER confrontation
The responding West York officer killed in the incident was struck by police gunfire, a finding the York County DA disclosed in the after-action review
Hospital active-threat alerts in academic health systems use the same run-hide-fight language as campuses, but the patient population (immobile ICU patients) makes evacuation guidance fundamentally different
UPMC does not publicly archive its emergency notifications, so the verbatim alert text could not be confirmed despite the incident being heavily documented
Outcome
The gunman, 49-year-old Diogenes Archangel-Ortiz, was shot and killed by police. West York Officer Andrew Duarte died; six others were wounded — three police officers, a doctor, a nurse, and a custodian — and an additional staff member was injured in a fall, for seven injured in all. The York County District Attorney later concluded Duarte was struck by officer gunfire during the exchange.
Provenance

Sources

  1. Source
    2025 UPMC Memorial Hospital shooting
    en.wikipedia.org
  2. News
    Shooting incident confirmed at a Pennsylvania hospital
    cnn.com
  3. News
    Officials: Officer killed by shooter who took hostages at UPMC Memorial hospital in York, Pa.
    wesa.fm
  4. News
    Officer Andrew Duarte killed in friendly fire during UPMC Memorial shooting: DA
    local21news.com
  5. Source
    AHA issues statement in response to shooting at a Pennsylvania hospital
    aha.org
Tags
active-shooterhospitalacademic-health-centerpennsylvaniaicuhostageemergency-notificationworkplace-violence
Added May 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion