Homeless Woman Dies of Self-Inflicted Gunshot Wound After Memphis Hospital Sought to Move her to Shelter

Homeless Memphis woman dies of self-inflicted gun shot wound in bathroom after Methodist South Hospital asks police to take her to shelter.

SHAME:  A 57 year old homeless woman in Memphis, committed suicide, after remaining in a waiting room at Methodist South Hospital for more than 16 hours after being released Wednesday night. She shot herself to death in a restroom after Memphis police spoke to her about going to a shelter, the Commercial Appeal said. I guess she was reluctant to leave the waiting room because she had nowhere to go in the freezing temperature, with the overnight low temperature plunging to 16 degrees.

The 57-year-old woman, whom police did not identify, said she needed to use a restroom before leaving with an officer who had been called to the hospital about 11:10 p.m., according to Sgt. Karen Rudolph, a police department spokeswoman. The officer heard a shot in the restroom and the woman was pronounced dead. “It’s our understanding that she was homeless and had nowhere to go,” said Ruth Ann Hale, a spokeswoman for Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare. Hospital security officers told police that the woman had been discharged from the hospital about 6:30 a.m. but never left the waiting room, police said.

It doesn't seem that the hospital was in the wrong, since they called authorities to see if she could be taken to a shelter. It is really a sad commentary on what is happening in the lives of some people in this country. The first questions that come to my mind are where did she get the gun and why didn't she just go to the shelter so she could be off the streets for the night. It is also disturbing that she was able to take a gun into the hospital, which has said it doesn't have metal detectors. I can't judge this woman because I haven't walked in her shoes. Still, it breaks my heart to that she didn't feel she had an alternative but to kill herself. Sad, sad, sad.