BATON ROUGE - Our Lady of the Lake says it's reviewing its security practices after a patient brought a firearm into the hospital Sunday night.

An OLOL spokesperson said the patient was stopped in the lobby after an employee noticed what appeared to be a firearm under his jacket. Staff notified a reserve sheriff's deputy assigned to the emergency room, who found a Glock 43 with an extended drum concealed under the man's armpit. 

The deputy seized the weapon and placed the man, identified as Jordan Bradford, in handcuffs. Bradford admitted to the deputy that he did not have a concealed carry permit, arrest documents said. He also claimed he was carrying the weapon because he thought someone was trying to kill him. 

He was booked on weapons charges.

Our Lady of the Lake released the following statement Monday evening.

“Violent crime has increased exponentially in the city of Baton Rouge and must stop now. No one is immune from the impact, not even our most sacred institutions such as community hospitals, as we’ve seen recently across our city. In response to this increase in community crime, we are again evaluating and making updates as necessary to our security practices at all campuses in order to ensure the safety of all team members, patients and guests. We have sought outside professional security consultants’ advice and expertise in the past and will once again seek their counsel.

Last night, a patient arrived in our main campus emergency department. At check-in, one of our team members observed what was later confirmed as a concealed weapon in his waistband. Our team responded calmly, as trained, promptly notifying security and the East Baton Rouge sheriff’s deputy assigned to the emergency room. Our Lady of the Lake has a gun-free policy and zero tolerance for weapons of any kind. We are thankful for our team member’s quick response and on-site law enforcement’s immediate action.

On behalf of everyone at Our Lady of the Lake and the families we serve, we call on our city’s leadership and its citizens to end this violence and everyone’s fear. Our community must come together to address this increase in violent crime with real solutions.

We pray for the safety of our city, those who protect it and those who serve it as healthcare professionals.”

The incident came just days after a hospital employee was carjacked in the parking lot of the medical center Friday. Police recovered the vehicle in the Gardere area but are still looking for a suspect in that crime.