Intruders with machetes smash their way into La Loche hospital
Three men, armed with baseball bats and machetes, smashed their way into a northern Saskatchewan hospital on the weekend looking to get access to an injured patient.
It happened early Sunday morning at the La Loche Health Centre.
Officials said a man, 27, had been injured in a street fight and was taken by ambulance to the urgent care area of health centre around 3:30 a.m. CST.
About 85 minutes later, three people — armed with baseball bats and machetes — broke through the emergency doors and entered the facility.
It's believed they wanted to continue the previous fight, the health region said. They found two relatives of the injured man and chased them out of the health centre.
RCMP were called, but the intruders took off before officers arrived.
"It was a scary situation for those involved," said Dale West, a spokesperson with the Keewatin Yatthé Regional Health Authority.
"There were no injuries to staff, to patients. There was no further damage beyond simply the breaking of the doors to get in."
Two of the suspects later returned to the health centre, around 6 a.m., looking for medical assistance for injuries they sustained earlier in the night.
RCMP said two men, both 21, were arrested without incident and are now facing a number of charges. There was no immediate word on what became of the third suspect who busted into the health centre.
La Loche, a town of about 2,300 people, is about 500 kilometres northwest of Prince Albert.
It's the same community where in September 2011 a mob stormed a hospital, burned a police truck and attacked RCMP officers and paramedics.
In that incident, police and hospital staff barricaded themselves inside the hospital, but people smashed the windows and kept trying to get in, police said.
Pepper spray was used, all the remaining RCMP members in town were brought in for backup.
Three men were later charged.
