Patient at NW Portland hospital during shooting says she learned what was happening on news

PORTLAND Ore. (KPTV) - Caitlin Cardon was recovering from surgery at a northwest Portland hospital when the facility went into lockdown Saturday morning.

At about 11 a.m., a shooting at Legacy Good Samaritan killed a security guard named Bobby Smallwood.

Cardon says her background in the medical field kept her calm during the scary situation.

“I pushed my call light because I was hoping to get more medication because I had surgery the day before. For half an hour no one came,” Cardon says. “Out of my knowledge from working in the medical field, I thought ‘ok, we must be in a lockdown if this is what’s going on.’”

RELATED: Portland hospital shooting leaves security guard dead; suspect shot dead after police stop

Police say the suspect left the hospital and, several hours later, was stopped by Gresham police officers. During the stop, three officers shot at and killed the suspect.

At the hospital, Cardon says patients in rooms near her own started asking what was going on.

“The lady in the room next to me came out, said ‘hey, do you know what’s going on?’ That’s when I read the report and apparently, she had too on her phone. That was when both of us said ‘oh, ok,’” Cardon says. “Another lady came over and we were talking a little bit and then over the loudspeaker and they told us to shelter in place.”

Cardon says she told the others to go back into their rooms, based on her experience with the medical field. Eventually, her nurses came to her room.

“I actually got discharged yesterday, but they said I couldn’t go anywhere.”

Cardon’s husband was eventually able to pick her up, but she recalls having to take a different route through the hospital to get to the front doors.

SEE ALSO: Woman who formerly lived in tent near Steel Bridge signs lease on new apartment

“I feel like they did the best they could,” Cardon says. “I understand why they didn’t say anything to the patients because they didn’t want to freak them out, but at the same time it left us all wondering what’s going on.”

Cardon lives in Washington and has grown up in the area, and says she’s seen Portland change over the years.

“It’s sad to see that we are in that state and there are so may violent crimes, graffiti, break-ins. Literally, I don’t go to Portland if I don’t have to anymore. I just don’t go to Oregon.”

The Good Samaritan Family Birth Center is closed until further notice, according to Legacy.

Anyone with information on the hospital shooting is asked to contact Portland police and anyone with information on the officer-involved shooting is asked to contact Gresham police.

Copyright 2023 KPTV-KPDX. All rights reserved.