Man accused of shooting inside Baptist Health Hardin ER indicted, released from hospital

The man accused of firing shots inside the emergency room at Baptist Health Hardin (BHH) in Elizabethtown has been indicted on multiple felony charges.

As K105 previously reported, the Elizabethtown Police Department was dispatched to the hospital at 913 North Dixie Hwy on the report of gunfire at approximately 5:10 on the morning of October 19, 2024.

Kentucky State Police Post 4 Public Affairs Officer Scotty Sharp said the investigation showed that the Elizabethtown police received multiple reports regarding an armed male inside BHH who was making “numerous threats to hospital staff and patients.”

Police were also told the suspect, 39-year-old George Lee Jr., of Radcliff, “had fired his weapon inside the hospital before their arrival,” Sharp said.

When officers arrived, they encountered several people running out of the hospital. Officers entered BHH and encountered Lee. The suspect then “turned toward officers with the firearm and it was at that time EPD officer Lieutenant Alex Ruiz fired his agency-issued weapon one time, striking Lee,” according to Sharp.

Lee was airlifted to University of Louisville Hospital but was released on Friday and lodged in the Hardin County Detention Center on a $500,000 cash bond.

He was indicted by a Hardin County Grand Jury on two counts of kidnapping, three counts of first-degree wanton endangerment and being a persistent felony offender, according to Elizabethtown Police Department Public Affairs Officer Chris Denham.

Lee, according to online records, was arrested in 2018 in Hardin County and charged with third-degree assault of police/probation officer, possession of meth, tampering with physical evidence, carrying a concealed weapon, possession of a handgun by a convicted felon, possession of a defaced firearm, resisting arrest, and third-degree criminal mischief.

In 2019, Lee was charged with possession of a handgun by convicted felon, third-degree assault of police/probation officer and possession of methamphetamine in Fulton County.

Lee in 2016 was jailed on a commitment order in Bullitt County, online records show.

By Ken Howlett, News Director

Contact Ken at ken@k105.com