'There's a man with a gun'

Witnesses reveal details of shooting on the eighth floor

DANBURY -- For John Malone, the first indication of trouble came when a nurse rushed into his grandmother's room on the eighth floor of Danbury Hospital and shouted, "There's a man with a gun."

"My heart started jumping," said the 26-year-old White Plains, N.Y., man. "My first thought was whether it was a patient, an employee or a visitor."

There was a shot, then Malone, a police officer assigned to Roosevelt Island in New York City, and the doctor who was tending to his grandmother poked their heads out the door of the room.

"There was a lot of commotion. Doctors and nurses were ducked down behind things and were looking around, and security people were rushing in," Malone said. "It was pretty confusing, which was the scariest part."

About 50 feet away in the cardiac care unit, around a corner and on the other side of a bank of elevators, an 85-year-old patient had pulled out a gun and shot a male nurse at least three times, according to police. Authorities believe he brought the gun to the hospital with him.

Andrew Hull, 35, an assistant nurse manager and ex-Marine who lives in New Fairfield, was hit by at least three shots and is stable condition at the hospital.

The alleged gunman, Stanley Lupienski, a resident of the senior citizen housing complex on Brooks Quarry Road, Brookfield, has been charged with first-degree assault, reckless endangerment, unlawful discharge of a firearm, and carrying a revolver without a permit.

Lupienski was also wounded in the leg when the gun discharged as hospital staffers struggled to subdue him. He remains hospitalized under police guard.

Lupienski was taken to the hospital by ambulance early Monday after Newtown police found him "in need of medical assistance," Chief Michael Kehoe said.

Lupienski, who friends said spent much of his time caring for the property and pets of a woman friend from Newtown who died in 2008, drove into the police station parking lot on South Main Street, Newtown, shortly after midnight.

Officers determined he needed to go to the hospital, Kehoe said. They didn't search him for a weapon.

"He committed no crime. He appeared to be in some type of medical crisis," Kehoe said. "It's the same thing as going to an accident and finding someone who needs medical treatment. You're not searching for a weapon. Your concern is for their health and safety."

Lupienski was taken to the Danbury Hospital emergency room and admitted to the crisis intervention unit shortly after 1 a.m., according to a Brookfield police log. The log also indicates Brookfield officers attempted to contact a family member after Newtown authorities notified them of the incident.

Laura Liveli, of Naugatuck, who is John Malone's mother, was also at the hospital when the shooting occurred.

"The nurse came running in. She was very panicked," Liveli said. "I heard three shots, then another. The last shot was very loud, like it was next door."

The shots were followed by voices of people screaming and crying and the sound of slamming doors.

"It was very extraordinary. It was like the movies," Liveli said.

She was even more alarmed when her son and the doctor left the room and began working their way toward the location where the gunshots originated.

"I was yelling, `You're off duty and you're not armed. All you're wearing is shorts and a sweatshirt,'" she said. "Get back in here."

At some point, someone yelled that security staff had the gun, Liveli said, and her son returned to the room.

Then came sirens and police were all over the eighth floor, she said.

Contact John Pirro

at jpirro@newstimes.com

or at 203-731-3342.