Doctor, gunman dead in shooting at NYC hospital
NEW YORK — A former employee of a New York City hospital opened fire with an assault rifle inside the building on Friday, killing one doctor and wounding six other people before fatally shooting himself in a burst of violence that appeared to be workplace related, officials said.
The assailant, wearing a white, medical-style lab coat and armed with an assault rifle, stalked the 16th and 17th floors of the Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center, and apparently tried to set himself on fire at one point, they said. Police who swarmed the building found him dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound after a search, they said.
One physician was shot to death in the course of the bloodshed, and six other people were injured, five seriously, including one who suffered a gunshot wound to the leg, Police Commissioner James O’Neill said at a news conference.
“One doctor is dead and there are several others who are fighting for their lives right now,” Mayor Bill de Blasio told reporters.
The mayor characterized the shooting as an “isolated incident” that appeared to be “workplace-related.”
Authorities did not immediately identify the gunman or any of his victims.
The 120-year-old hospital has nearly 1,000 beds and one of the busiest emergency rooms in New York City. It is about a mile and a half north of Yankee Stadium.
