Bellingham man threatens to shoot ER staff, exposes himself in hospital waiting room
A Bellingham man is suspected of threatening to shoot emergency department staff at St. Joseph’s hospital and down his pants and exposing himself to everyone in the waiting room.
The Bellingham Police Department booked Christopher Stephen Attwood, 35, into Whatcom County Jail Monday, Sept. 26, on suspicion of felony harassment and indecent exposure, as well as outstanding warrants for second-degree malicious mischief and fourth-degree assault. Jail records show Attwood is being held in lieu of $50,000 bail.
Police were called at approximately 12:36 a.m. Monday to the hospital after a man, later identified as Attwood, threatened gun violence against the staff, according to Whatcom County Superior Court documents.
Nurses and security guards at the hospital told police that Attwood had been a patient, and that after he was discharged, he refused to leave, documents state. Instead, Attwood pulled down his pants and underwear and exposed himself in the waiting room, according to documents.
Hospital staff also reported Attwood said he was “going to come back and kill everybody in here,” documents state, which staff said they believed he might do. One staff member took notes on six different statements Attwood made that contained threats to shoot up the emergency department or racial slurs, according to documents.
Attwood left the hospital before police arrived, according to court documents, but officers located him nearby walking away.
After reading Attwood his rights, police reported that Attwood doubled down on his threats to shoot up the emergency department, saying “I’d (expletive) kill them” and that he’d call his family to come kill staff members, documents state.
Court records show the malicious mischief warrant against Attwood stems from a Feb. 9 incident in which he allegedly threw a rock through a window at T-Mobile in Bellingham, causing an estimated $1,500 in damage.
