Two patients have been shot dead inside a Cape Town hospital by a patient who disarmed a police official.

Police say the official was shot through the head in Saturday night’s attack and is fighting for his life.

It’s understood that the two victims were near the killer who fired several shots.

The two were declared dead on the scene.

The police’s Novela Potelwa explained, “Police had taken a 35-year-old suspect to Somerset Hospital for medical attention when a 40-year-old man inside the hospital took the officer’s firearm and shot several shots. The suspect was disarmed and arrested.”