Western State Hospital closing ward from which two patients escaped

LAKEWOOD, Wash. – Western State Hospital officials announced Tuesday that they plan to close the ward from which two potentially dangerous patients escaped earlier this month.

Patients from ward C4 will move to ward E2 as part of a larger transition that will see patients in three different wards moving to new residences.

Hospital officials said the move came about following “tremendous concerns about public safety” after Anthony Garver and Mark Alexander Adams escaped through a window April 6, and that both DSHS and Gov. Jay Inslee had been “very involved” in the discussions.

The ward is home to patients who have been found incompetent to stand trial for violent felonies.

Garver was arrested for murder in 2013, and Adams was arrested for domestic assault in 2014. Both were found not competent to stand trial.