By Christian Boone
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
ATLANTA — Police are trying to determine why a .40-caliber Glock handgun with two fully loaded magazines was hidden in the emergency room of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Hughes Spalding.
The hospital has increased its security presence and now has a “dedicated security officer in the emergency department,” Children’s Healthcare spokeswoman Patty Gregory said Thursday.
The gun was discovered early Monday morning by a cleaning woman as she changed trash bags in an ER bathroom, according to an incident report filed by Atlanta police. The weapon was placed between the bag and the trash can.
APD spokesman Curtis Davenport said investigators are still gathering evidence as to who may have left the gun there and why.
“There’s no good reason,” said gun safety expert Matt Podowitz. “It could have been placed to facilitate a shooting. It may have been a drop for an illegal gun swap.”
“What concerns me is that a loaded firearm was left in a place where so many children might have access,” he said.
Gregory said the hospital received no threats before or after the gun was found.
Located in downtown Atlanta, the hospital opened in 1952 and was shut down in 1989. It was reopened by Grady as a children’s hospital in 1991. But Grady’s own financial struggles prompted talk of closing it again in 2006. An arrangement struck with Children’s Healthcare — in which Children’s assumed management control over the center — helped save the facility.
Copyright 2012 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution