Stabbing suspect held without bail as ER nurse fights for her life

WORCESTER, Mass. — A Southbridge man is being held without bail after police say he walked into a hospital and stabbed a nurse in the emergency room.

The incident began just after 10 a.m. Wednesday at Harrington Hospital. Police said the suspect, who has been identified as 24-year-old Conor O’Regan, walked into the emergency room for medical treatment.

He registered with hospital staff, provided them with identification and signed paperwork before he was led into a room off the triage area.

MORE: Suspect arrested after allegedly stabbing ER nurse in Southbridge

At that point, police said, he closed the door, pulled out a knife and repeatedly slashed a nurse. The nurse, Elise Wilson, suffered stab wounds to her face and arm.

“The attack happened very quickly,” Worcester County District Attorney Joseph Early said. “I can’t speak to how long. It happened very quickly and he exited the hospital.”

O’Regan then ran off, but was later captured on Main Street, police said. Police found blood and a knife in O’Regan’s car.

A court psychiatrist says O’Regan was diagnosed with schizophrenia about four years ago and stopped taking his medicine, instead, self-medicating with drugs and alcohol.

Early said that at this point in the investigation, investigators still don’t know a motive for the attack.

The unidentified nurse was able to get help and her colleagues did all they could to save her life. She was taken to UMass Medical Center in Worcester where she underwent surgery. She’s currently listed in critical condition.

O’Regan has no prior record, but is being held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing scheduled for next Monday.

Elise Wilson's family sent Boston 25 News the following statement:

"We would like to thank everyone yesterday for the tremendous outpouring of thoughts, prayers and well wishes. During this time we would like to ask that the members of the media give our family the space and the time that we need to heal together.  We have a long and difficult journey ahead and we have decided together that we want to make the journey in private, together with our family and close group of Friends.

While the events that took place on June 14 were tragic, we are very thankful that we were granted the chance to be able to travel down the long road of recovery. There is a very small group of people that we will never be able to repay or express enough thanks and gratitude to. The small, well trained, group of close-knit nurses and doctor who was able to lead the group in a calm and professional manner. Also a group of EMT’S that were able to jump in and help in a moment’s notice.

Without these people being in the right place at the right time, the results would have been much worse. This team at Harrington Hospital, without question, saved their colleague and friend’s life. We do not want to in any way diminish the work done at UMASS Medical center.

The lead trauma surgeon yesterday summed it up best. He said that “We were here and able to put all the pieces back together,” however the “real heroes” were the group that worked on her at Harrington Hospital. We would also like to thank the entire team who worked on her at UMASS. They did an exceptional job and are all very good at what they do. They also did an exceptional job of providing us with as much, up-to-date, accurate information as they could. On a day when minutes felt like days a little shred of information goes a long way towards helping everyone keep things together.

Thank you all for the love and support during this difficult time."

Cox Media Group