Four people are dead after a gunman started shooting randomly at victims at a Chicago hospital on Nov. 19.
Four people were critically wounded in the attack. Three of these victims have since been confirmed dead, including police officer Samuel Jimenez who was one of the first to respond to the incident, a police spokesman said on Twitter.
An emergency room doctor was also killed.
Police told ABC7 that shots were fired both inside and outside Mercy hospital in Chicago’s South Side around 3:15 p.m.
Policeman and Doctor Shot
The gunman first opened fire in the parking lot outside the hospital before bursting into the lobby of the hospital and opening fire again, according to reports.A witness named James Gray told reporters that it looked as if the attacker “was turning and shooting people at random.”
The shooting apparently began as the suspect was walking with a woman near a parking lot. He turned and repeatedly shot the woman in the chest. The two had been talking to each other in what Gray said did not appear to be a heated exchange.
“Then once she fell to the ground, he stood over her and shot her three more times,” he said.
The woman has been identified as Dr Tamara O’Neal, an E.R. doctor at the hospital. She was also the gunman’s ex-fiancee, according to CBS2 reporter Brad Edwards.
Police have not commented on a possible motive.
The gunman shot at police officers when they arrived at the parking lot and then he entered the hospital, witnesses told CBS Chicago.
Once the gunman was inside, he shot another woman, who has since passed away. She has not been identified.
A second officer had also been shot at, but he escaped uninjured because the bullet struck his holster and embedded itself in his gun.
Hospital in Chaos
Employees told ABC7 that the shooting had taken place in an outpatient area of the hospital that is relatively open. The scene was reportedly chaotic.Employees from the hospital’s pharmacy, which is just inside the hospital lobby, said that the gunman was trying to get into the pharmacy and was arguing with some people.
The pharmacy employees told ABC7 that they followed the hospital’s active shooter training. They closed their shutters, barricaded the door, and hid.
Police cars and ambulances swarmed the hospital after the shooting as officers searched the medical facility.
As of 4:40 p.m., police had secured the hospital, and all patients were safe, hospital officials told CBS Chicago.
Sue Jimenez, the manager of Kozy’s Cyclery bike shop near the hospital, said she heard multiple gunshots separated by pauses. At one point, she heard five shots in quick succession, she said, but the shooting stopped after police arrived.
ATF Chicago said they plan to assist in the investigation.
A Family Assistance Center has been set up at Dunbar High School at 3000 South Martin Luther King Boulevard for those affected by the shooting, The Chicago Office of Emergency Management and Communications told ABC7.
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