Man Allegedly Strangled Newborns Until They Were 'Blue' in Hospital Attack

A man was arrested and accused of assaulting infants, staff and police officers at Odessa Regional Medical Hospital in Texas.

According to a police report obtained by Newsweek, on October 3, Marcus McCowan was found to have been choking infants in the Newborn Intensive Care Unit (NICU). He also shoved a nurse and resisted the officers who responded to the scene. At one point, police said McCowan reached for one officer's duty-issued pistol.

Attempted capital murder, assault on a public servant and possession of a controlled substance are among the charges McCowan faces.

According to the penal code of Texas, capital murder can involve a number of different scenarios.

It may involve a person intentionally committing a murder in the course of committing or attempting to commit other crimes, including kidnapping, burglary or robbery.

Per the report, officers were called to the hospital on a report of a man who was allegedly choking infants in the NICU.

When officers found McCowan and began to place him in handcuffs, he reportedly started pulling and pushing away. After he was in custody, an officer found a THC vape pen, but during the search, ​​McCowan reportedly reached back to try to take the officer's gun holstered to his duty belt though he was unsuccessful.

He also allegedly tried to take the gun once again when they were in the elevator but was again unsuccessful.

Officers said they learned McCowan was in the hospital because his girlfriend was in labor, but he approached the nurse station and made "unwanted physical contact" with one nurse.

"He grabbed her left arm with firm pressure and made an unintelligible statement," the report said. "The Charge Nurse made Marcus leave the area at the time."

A nurse saw McCowan running in the hallway.

Another nurse said she later saw McCowan approach a mother of a newborn baby boy who was holding her child in a baby carrier, but the mother moved the carrier away.

He left the area for a brief moment but returned, screaming and yelling.

"He charged at all three females and attempted to get into the nursery which was secured behind a locked door," the report said.

He then reportedly shoved a nurse, who fell to the floor.

A nurse said she saw McCowan allegedly trying to remove the baby from the baby carrier before he began to "manually strangle" him while he was buckled in the carrier.

Police said the baby's skin began to change color, but the nurses managed to separate the baby from McCowan.

McCowan then reportedly ran into the nursery and a nurse said she found him reaching into another bed that was occupied by a newborn and began strangling her. The nurse said she saw the baby's face turn red and her lips turn blue.

"Marcus picked up [baby's name redacted] from the neck and proceeded to shake her," the report said. "[The nurse] recalled that Marcus said 'die' while committing an act clearly dangerous to [baby's name redacted]'s life."

The nurse placed her hand on the back of the baby's head while trying to make McCowan release his grip from around the baby's neck.

"At that point, [baby's name redacted] was turning blue/purple from the lack of oxygen," the report said.

Not long after, a security officer arrived and helped separate McCowan from the baby.

Newsweek reached out to Odessa Regional Medical Hospital for comment.

Other arrests have also recently made the news.

A man shared a now-viral thread on Twitter discussing how his wife was allegedly assaulted by the passenger sitting in front of her on a flight.

One pastor has been accused of sexually assaulting a woman with special needs, while another man was recently arrested in connection with a sexual abuse case from 1989 involving a then-fourth grader.