BOSTON: A man shot a doctor inside a prestigious hospital Tuesday, critically wounding the physician, before killing himself, police said.

The suspect entered Brigham and Women’s Hospital, affiliated with Harvard Medical School, sometime before 11 am on Tuesday and requested the doctor by name, Boston Police Commissioner William Evans said.

The man shot the doctor twice just outside an examination room in the hospital’s Shapiro building, a cardiovascular care and research centre. He then turned the gun on himself. Officers conducting a room-by-room search found the gunman dead in an examination room and recovered the weapon.

The doctor, meanwhile, suffered life-threatening injuries. No names were released, and Evans said police were trying to determine the motive. He said the suspect was not a doctor and did not appear to be a patient of the victim. “It’s not clear if there was an argument or if there was something in the past that upset this man,” Evans said. Police and hospital officials commended the fast response by police and hospital staff, who they said had been trained to respond to an “active shooter” situation.

Evans said police were on the scene within seconds after getting the first calls of shots fired and had the area secured within 15 minutes. Betsy Nabel, the hospital’s president, said Brigham and Women’s will evaluate its safety protocols. She said there have been no discussions about installing metal detectors, which none of the city’s hospitals have.

Tuesday’s shooting prompted a temporary lockdown at the Shapiro center. Hospital staff were asked to remain in place and the building did not accept new patients.

Published in Dawn January 21st , 2015

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