Testimony reveals new details in Albany Med lockdown
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Dino Savoca, the man charged with barricading himself inside his mother’s hospital room with two guns at Albany Medical Center on Monday, will have his case heard by a grand jury, a judge ruled on Friday afternoon.
Savoca, 61, appeared in Albany City Criminal Court for a preliminary hearing.
Savoca is accused of threatening a staff member at the hospital with weapons and blocking entry to his 97-year-old mother’s room for several hours. It caused the hospital to go into a Code Silver lockdown.
Detectives at Friday’s hearing testified Savoca was not following orders from law enforcement. They saw Savoca’s mother was not conscious and slumped over the bed. They later learned she was still alive.
Savoca had two guns on the bed, the detectives said. They were a BB gun and shot gun, Albany police said earlier this week. Ammunition was also found inside the hospital room.
Savoca’s mother passed away on Tuesday.
Savoca has been charged with one count of criminal possession of a weapon, one count of menacing, and one count of kidnapping. He pleaded not guilty to those charges in court on Tuesday.