Royse City Medical Lodge shooting: Woman opened fire while looking for ex, police say

ROYSE CITY, Texas - A female gunman is in custody and facing charges after opening fire at the Royse City Medical Lodge Friday morning.

"We are blessed that nobody lost their lives today," said Royse City Police Chief Kirk Aldridge.

55-year-old Sarah Carter was arrested and is facing five counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for the shooting.

Royse City police say at 9:15 a.m., Carter entered Royse City Medical Lodge, a nursing home and rehab facility off Interstate 30, with a gun and fired at least three rounds inside the facility.

Aldridge says Carter was looking for her ex, who is a patient at the facility. Police say she confronted four employees and then took off down a hallway where her ex used to stay. 

When employees at the facility originally received the 911 call, they were told there was a person who had been shot. However, that was not the case.

Police found evidence of shots being fired in the wall and ceiling of the facility.

Sarah Carter (Source: Royse City Police)

At one point, police say Carter pressed the barrel of the gun against one of the employees. Eventually, she barricaded herself in a room with two other patients inside.

Nearly six minutes after the original 911 call, officers forced their way into the room and took Carter into custody. Police believe she put down the rifle to try to move furniture to block the door.

The Royse City Police Department has only said a shooter was arrested and no one was hurt.

"To say I'm impressed with the officers' action would be an understatement," said Aldridge.

This was not Carter's first run-in with police.

Officers had been called to the facility eight times for incidents involving Carter. She was arrested in March for criminal trespassing and had been banned from the facility.

But police say those previous cases did not involve violence.

Although, records show Carter does have a felony arrest for assault on a public servant and some misdemeanor cases for drugs, theft and resisting arrest in her background.

Aldridge commended his officers who were able to find Carter and arrest her within six minutes. 

"The rooms are full in that facility. It could have been extremely bad. We had the report of one down," he said. "We’re lucky that when we got there, that wasn’t the case."

Aldridge said Carter’s ex was recently moved to a different room. She did not end up finding him.

Carter is currently being held at the Rockwall County jail.