A doctor armed with an assault rifle opened fire in a Bronx hospital Friday afternoon, killing one physician and leaving six other people “fighting for their lives” before turning the gun on himself, Mayor Bill de Blasio said.
The shooter used an AM-15 rifle to fire at people on the 16th and 17th floors of the Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center, at 1650 Grand Concourse, beginning around 2:55 p.m., Police Commissioner James O’Neill said at a news conference. An NYPD source identified the gunman as former employee Henry Bello, 45.
The gunman, who was wearing a white medical coat, then tried to set himself on fire before he fatally shot himself, O’Neill said. He was found dead on the 17th floor with the rifle nearby.
One woman, a doctor, was killed and five others were seriously injured in the shooting, O’Neill said. One other victim suffered a gunshot wound to the leg.
The woman who was killed was an attending family medicine physician, according to Dr. Sridhar Chilimuri, physician-in-chief at the hospital. Of the five who were injured, one is a hospital patient and the other four are medical students or doctors, he said.
“This is extraordinarily difficult for all of us,” Chilimuri added.
Mayor Bill de Blasio said it appeared the shooting was workplace-related.
“Thank God that this was not an act of terror,” the mayor said.
Hospital vice president Errol Schneer confirmed the shooter was a “disgruntled ex-employee” who began working there as a house physician in August 2014, but resigned in February 2015 to avoid being fired.
“This was a situation that happened two years ago and unfortunately this individual was able to get into the hospital,” Schneer said during an evening news conference.
As the first shots rang out, the hospital went on lockdown. Hospital staff had just completed an active shooter drill in May, Schneer said. Seriously injured patients were quickly moved to the emergency room and operating room.
“…So the nursing staff – everybody, including the physicians – they ran in and did whatever they had to do and they performed amazingly well,” said Chilimuri, adding that the hospital looked more like a war zone.
“There’s smoke, there’s water, there’s blood everywhere,” he said, describing the scene as hospital staff rushed to get patients into elevators and to the operating room, all while the gunman was still in the building.
Wilfredo Ramirez Rodriguez, 61, who was inside a doctor’s second-floor office, saw an injured doctor being removed by hospital personnel. “He was shot in the chest,” he said. “There was a lot of blood. The police had not arrived yet.”
“As a result of their efforts, there’s only one patient injury and that injury is in stable condition,” Errol said. “all the other patients in this hospital were protected.
Many people inside hid for two hours before police could escort them to safety. The noise of the fire alarm added to the tension as police searched for the shooter and firefighters searched for the source of flames.
Hospital employee Denise Brown, 53, said she was on the fifth floor, heading to the fourth floor when the shooting began.
“I just thank God that I wasn’t one of the ones that got shot today,” she said, adding that she plans to go home, hug her fiancé and call her family. “My prayers go out to the families. I’m so sorry we did lose an employee.”
Reynaldo del Villare, 55, of the Bronx, was in the emergency room on the first floor with a lower back ailment when police told him there was a possible shooter in the building.
“I thought I was going to die. I can’t walk. I can’t run. And you know your life is in danger,” he said.
There were about 40 people in the emergency room at the time, including women and babies, del Villare said. After about two hours, the patients were told they could leave in a line with their hands up.
Milagros de Jesus, 49, said she was in the hospital to get an MRI for her father when the shooting occurred. They did not hear the gunshots, the Bronx resident said.
“We’re not safe nowhere, not even in the hospital,” de Jesus said from outside the hospital after evacuating.
Authorities shut down surrounding streets, trapping workers in their businesses. Anyone looking for loved ones who may be missing as a result of the shooting should call 311 if you live in the city or 212-639-9675, the NYPD said.
Joanne Ramos, an employee at Lieberman & Barnett DDS across the street from the hospital, said that she could see firefighters and police swarming the street from her window. The street was closed off as police sought the gunman.
“There are no people. They locked the street” down, she said, adding that she and her co-workers were not allowed to leave. “We cannot go home.”
Jose Hernandez, who owns Clippings hair salon across the street, said he stayed inside during the search for the shooter.
“There’s a bunch of cops outside. Everything is taped up, there’s yellow tape everywhere,” Hernandez said. “They’re not letting nobody walk around.”
Dr. Ruchi Agarwal said her ob-gyn office was placed on lockdown.
“We had to put down the shutters and were told [by police] to stay down and stay inside,” she said.
Investigators are trying to determine what led to Bello’s departure from the hospital. Online court records show he was charged in 2004 with sexual abuse and unlawful imprisonment, both felonies, and misdemeanor unlawful imprisonment.
He pleaded guilty only to the misdemeanor and was sentenced to 28 hours of community service, according to records. Bello’s name was not found in the state database of licensed doctors.
De Blasio said investigators have many questions and were trying to piece together why and what happened.
Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center has been serving South and Central Bronx for more than 120 years.
With Matthew Chayes, Heather Holland, Polly Higgins, Nicole Levy and Laura Blasey
