Holly MatkinDalton, GA – A Georgia police officer shot a violent hospital patient inside a Georgia medical center after the suspect blinded him by throwing hand sanitizer into his eyes, according to investigators.
Dalton police responded to the lobby of the Hamilton Medical Center emergency room at about 4:45 a.m. on May 1 after medical staff called them for help with an unruly patient, The Daily Citizen reported.
The caller told the dispatcher that the suspect “had barricaded herself into a patient room and was damaging equipment and was resisting efforts by hospital staff to help her,” the Dalton Police Department (DPD) said in a press release later that day.
The suspect was later identified as 41-year-old Chevona Bernice Doughty, The Daily Citizen reported.
Officers arrived at the scene and located the “hostile subject,” then attempted to take her into custody, according to the DPD.
But as one of the officers was entering the examination room, Doughty suddenly hurled liquid hand sanitizer at his face, hitting him in his eyes and temporarily blinding him, The Daily Citizen reported.
The officer then fired his duty weapon, hitting Doughty.
The suspect was treated for non-life threatening wounds and has since been turned over to the custody of the DPD, The Daily Citizen reported.
The officer was treated for his eye injury and has also been released from the hospital.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) is handling the ongoing investigation into the officer-involved shooting at the DPD’s request, according to the press release.
Doughty has been charged with obstruction of an officer, aggravated battery on an officer, and criminal damage, WTVC reported.
Whitfield County jail records revealed Doughty has been arrested multiple times over the past two decades, according to The Daily Citizen.
Her prior charges include theft by deception, abuse or exploitation of a disabled or elderly person, financial transaction card fraud, theft by taking, and criminal receipt of goods or services obtained by fraud.
