BRADENTON, Fla. — Surveillance video showed a patient "actively loading" a firearm early Wednesday morning inside the emergency room at Blake Hospital in Bradenton, police say.
A staff member called 911 at 2:16 a.m. and reported the woman was seen on camera loading a gun in her purse.
Authorities say they were on their way to the hospital within a minute of the 911 call, with the first officer showing up by 2:20 a.m. and rushing in through an ambulance bay.
A security guard was also there and seized the handgun, police said.
More police officers arrived and surrounded the woman, who was arrested.
The Bradenton Police Department said investigators seized a Smith & Wesson Bodyguard .380 handgun with an incorporated laser.
"The suspect’s purse contained one high-capacity (50 round) drum-style magazine with 36 loaded rounds; two magazines containing a total of 13 loaded rounds; and 14 loose rounds," the police department wrote in an email. "Additional witnesses stated they observed the suspect loading what appeared to be bullets into a magazine."
The woman was identified by police as 37-year-old Jamekeyra Ulisa Levertt-Chapman of Sarasota. She was charged with two felonies: introducing a firearm into a hospital and possession of a concealed weapon without a concealed weapon permit.
Patient arrested over gun at Blake Hospital
During a court appearance Thursday, a judge set Chapman's bond at $25,000 with a supervisory release with a mandated mental health evaluation. She told the judge she had the firearm because of prior domestic violence issues.
Chapman, too, said she had mental health issues from a prior diagnosis and said the gun was not taken from her.
"HCA Florida Blake Hospital is committed to providing a safe and secure environment for our patients, caregivers and visitors," hospital leaders said in a statement. "We have numerous processes and procedures in place to support this commitment and our caregivers are trained to respond to a wide range of situations.
"We are very appreciative of the appropriate actions taken by everyone involved, including a visitor who led others from the area, our caregiver who contacted the police, our security guard who calmly explained the law and the Bradenton Police Department officers who responded quickly."
Police say an investigation is still underway.