A disgruntled doctor bent on revenge has opened fire at a New York City hospital today, killing one female doctor and injuring six other people before turning the gun on himself.
Dr Henry Bello was dismissed from the Bronx-Lebanon Hospital in 2015 after allegations of sexual harassment. According to other doctors at the hospital, he had threatened them when he was fired. Dr Maureen Kwankam, who was a witness to today’s rampage, told the Daily News:
“We fired him because he was kind of crazy. He promised to come back and kill us then.”
The Bronx gunman today was a doctor accused of sexual harassment. Again, misogyny and mass murder are intertwined. https://t.co/Xs8c8a8Kcf
— Jamil Smith (@JamilSmith) June 30, 2017
Bello entered the hospital at around 2:45pm New York time while wearing a white lab coat concealing a semi-automatic rifle. After moving through the hospital, shooting – a police report suggests that he was “aiming for and aiming at doctors” – he attempted to set himself on fire, and then shot himself dead.
The doctor had a criminal record including attempted burglary, fare evasion, trying to look up women’s skirts with a mirror (what the fuck) and sexual assault – he reportedly grabbed a woman’s crotch on the street in Manhattan in 2004, telling her “you’re coming with me“.
“This was not an act of terrorism,” @NYCMayor says of Bronx hospital shooting. “It was an isolated incident.” https://t.co/apNwXZs5f4 pic.twitter.com/5tBZP1WKyb
— CBS News (@CBSNews) June 30, 2017
Police have praised the actions of hospital staff, who apparently underwent active shooter training just three months ago. Some of them carried a wounded doctor down nine floors in order to get them into emergency treatment.
One of the shooting victims is in a stable condition, but the rest are critical. Our thoughts are with the people of the Bronx-Lebanon Hospital, and their families.
Image: Facebook.
