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Police: Patient, worker die in random shooting at Titusville hospital; gunman arrested

TITUSVILLE, Fla. — Two women were fatally shot early Sunday at Titusville's Parrish Medical Center in an apparent random shooting, the Titusville Police Department said.

A gunman shot an elderly patient and a hospital worker in her 40s at about 2 a.m. in a room on the hospital's third floor, Titusville Police Chief John Lau said.

The worker was sitting in the patient's room when she was shot.

Lau said the hospital's unarmed security guards tackled the gunman and pinned him down until police officers arrived.

Raw: News conference on Titusville hospital shooting

"The staff executed their protocols as soon as one of the staff members realized what was happening," Lau said. "The security team responded to those protocols and was able to address the threat and actually attack the threat."

Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey called the shooting "random" because it didn't appear the gunman knew either of his victims.

"Both the security guards were actually unarmed, but their actions to attack the suspect and work as team kept others from getting hurt," Ivey said. "There's no question about that."

Photos: Parrish Medical Center shooting

The shooter's motive isn't known, but he acted alone, Lau said.

No one else was injured in the shooting.

Officials wouldn't specify what type of gun the alleged shooter used.

Neither the gunman nor the women he's accused of killing were immediately identified.

The hospital remained open Sunday with an increased police presence.

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