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Worker stabbed at Boston Medical Center, man arrested on assault, drug charges
The officer was attacked early Wednesday morning after stopping a visitor who was allegedly attempting to leave with a patient’s belongings.
A Boston Medical Center employee suffered life-threatening injuries after he was stabbed early Wednesday morning by a Roxbury man who is now facing assault charges, authorities said.
At about 2 a.m., Boston police responded to the center’s campus and discovered that a public safety officer had been stabbed in his right leg by a man visiting a patient, according to a police report. The alleged attacker, Branden Bannister, 37, was arrested and charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon causing serious bodily injury, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, and trafficking cocaine over 18 grams.
Drew Gardner, the hospital’s spokesperson, confirmed that the employee “was treated immediately and is recovering” and that the hospital is “open and operating normally” following the incident.
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“Earlier this morning, Boston Police and Boston Medical Center Public Safety responded to an assault on a staff member on our campus,” the center said in a statement. “The situation was addressed immediately, and the assailant is now in Boston Police Department custody. There is no ongoing threat to staff or patients.”
When officers arrived, they found a man, later identified as Bannister, “standing, handcuffed, bleeding profusely from the face.” A public safety officer explained that Bannister had visited a female patient and was attempting to leave with some of her belongings, according to the report.
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Security footage showed the public safety officers intervening to take the patient’s belongings back and Bannister becoming hostile, police said in the report. After the safety officers pushed him away, he “clutched his right hoodie pocket, as if to grip and conceal a weapon,” prompting them to pepper-spray him.
As the officers collected the patient’s belongings, Bannister suddenly pulled “an unknown item from his right pocket” and punched the victim, according to the report. The officer realized he had been stabbed and began “hopping on one leg” toward the hospital’s trauma wing, leaving a trail of blood behind him.
A tourniquet had to be applied to the injured officer’s wound, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office. Boston police later confirmed that he had been stabbed in the upper right thigh and was in critical condition.
After Bannister was arrested, another safety officer who was unharmed noticed his ballistic vest carrier had an 8-inch slash in it, according to the police report. During Bannister’s arrest and booking, officers found several plastic bags on him with a total of 26 grams of substances believed to be cocaine, police said.
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Bannister was charged later that day in the central division of Boston Municipal Court and ordered held on $50,000 bail, the DA’s office said in a statement. He is due back in court Jan. 12 and was ordered to “stay away from all Boston hospitals unless strapped to a gurney.”
“It’s deeply disturbing that this defendant turned a workplace focused on healing people into a place of violence,” Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden said in the statement. “I wish the security guard a full and fast recovery and I’m grateful to all those who helped ensure a quick arrest.”
Tanvi Verma, Bannister’s attorney, noted that he was at the hospital “for the birth of his child” and said that he would keep a plea of not guilty.
“Right now, he’s maintaining his innocence,” Verma said.
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