Authorities are searching for the person who slashed a corrections officer guarding a prisoner at Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow Wednesday morning.
The officer was seated outside a hospital room on the ninth floor of the building where his prisoner was being treated for an unknown condition, officials say. The attacker came up behind the officer and slashed him with a sharp object, possibly a razor, leaving a six-inch cut from the back of his ear down to his neck.
Police say the prisoner remained in custody, but the slasher ran off. It's not believed the attacker knew the prisoner being guarded by the correction officer.
Police searched for the attacker, going floor by floor in the 19-story hospital. Workers were told to stay put, and police restricted people from coming in or leaving the hospital.
"It was crazy," said John Tuozo, who was part of a hospital work crew ordered to stay in a room for three hours. "You couldn't go anywhere without seeing 10 to 15 cops."
Hospital outpatient Carlos Bodre described people feeling "hot" and "impatient" as they waited to proceed with their appointments and activity at the hospital.
Authorities say there's an "enormous video system" in place at the hospital, and investigators are going through the footage to find the slasher.
The officer was treated for superficial wounds to the neck and head but is expected to be OK.
