Saturday, September 9, 2017

Bronx-Lebanon Hospital attack

The Bronx-Lebanon Hospital attack occurred on June 30, 2017, at around 2:45 PM EDT, 45-year-old Nigerian-born Dr. Henry Michael Bello, a family physician formerly employed by the Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center in The Bronx, New York City, United States, opened fire in that building, killing a doctor on the 17th floor and wounding six people on the 16th floor. The New York Police Department said he committed suicide after barricading himself inside with a rifle and setting himself on fire. Perpetrator: Bello (born Henry Williams Obotetukudo) had previously resigned from the hospital amid a sexual harassment complaint two years prior. He was a graduate of Ross University School of Medicine in Dominica and was formerly a pharmacy technician in California. He worked as a night shift doctor at the hospital while trying to be admitted into the family medical residency program. Incident: A doctor who was killed, Dr. Tracey Tam, was randomly targeted, according to Dr. Sridhar Chilimuri, the hospital chief. Six others (three doctors, two medical students and a patient) were injured. The most seriously wounded is a doctor shot in the knee and brain, who underwent several hours of surgery on-site and was sent to Mt. Sinai Hospital for more. The other two doctors were shot in the neck and abdomen, one student was shot in the hand and the patient had an unspecified minor injury. Dr. David Lazala, a graduate of the family medical residency program and current faculty member, told the Associated Press that he was one of the physicians training Bello, who sent Lazala a threatening email after being fired. He took Friday off and was reportedly the target of the attack. Dr. Maureen Kwankam said she fired Bello after two years of employment. Kwankam further stated "We fired him because he was kind of crazy. He promised to come back and kill us then." Hours before the shooting, Bello sent an e-mail to the New York Daily News, making various accusations in regards to his firing, stating "First, I was told it was because I always kept to myself. Then it was because of an altercation with a nurse. Then I was told, it was because I threatened a colleague." Bello blamed a specific doctor for blocking his career progress and costing him $400,000. Tracy Tam, DO, a family medicine physician, was killed. Justin Timperio, MD, a first year family medicine resident and a graduate of the American University of the Caribbean, was shot and sustained injuries to the liver, stomach, intestines, and lung. Oluwafunmike Ojewoye, MD, a second year family medicine resident and a graduate of Temple University School of Medicine sustained a neck gun shot wound. A gastroenterology fellow doing a consult sustained a hand gun shot wound. Two medical students from Ross University of Dominica were shot, one to the head and knee. A patient was also injured and was listed in stable condition while the others were deceased or in critical condition. Timperio was transferred to Mount Sinai Hospital, according to his father, Luciano Timperio, a St. Catherines, Ontario, Canada oral surgeon who blamed the lack of medical school positions in Ontario for his son's injuries.]

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