SICK SMILE, THEN HELL Doc grinned, ducked into office & came out shooting Horror, heroism in hospital halls
DISGRUNTLED doctor Henry Bello warmly greeted his former colleagues in Bronx-Lebanon Hospital before flashing a “creepy” smile and opening fire, nurses told the Daily News on Monday.
Theresa Arye, 39, said she walked into a treatment area on the 16th floor alongside Bello, who had an AM-15 concealed under a white lab coat.
“I walked in with the killer. He didn’t even say anything to me. He just greeted me like you see your co-worker, with his head, and I smiled back — eye-to-eye contact,” Arye, a nurse from Westchester County, said.
She did not know Bello, 45, personally — but knew of his awful reputation.
“I heard of him just last week — that he was rude, he was arrogant, and he always wanted his way,” Arye said.
Bello held a grudge against his former co-workers, who he believed had derailed his career in medicine. He had worked as a house physician at Bronx-Lebanon starting in August 2014 and was forced to resign six months later after being accused of sexually harassing a colleague.
Shani Gonzales, 23, recalled Bello insisting he needed to speak with a doctor inside an office.
“Before he went inside he turned around and started smiling . . . . He went inside and he pulled out the gun and he started shooting,” Gonzales said, sporting a cast on her leg due to a pulled muscle and sprained ankle suffered during the shooting.
“He gave that face like, ‘Oh, I don’t want to do this, but I have to because I’m here.’ Like that creepy face.”
Bello — who had struggled with homelessness — killed one doctor, and wounded six other people before killing himself.
The chilling new details of his attack Friday emerged as the hospital provided updates on the recoveries of the five wounded doctors and one patient who were all in stable condition. Dr. Brian Gilchrist, the chairman of the hospital’s department of surgery, said the response by staff following the bloodbath rivaled that of seasoned medics working in a war zone. “Far better than I’ve ever seen in combat,” Gilchrist said. Dr. Oluwafunmike Ojewoye, a 29-year-old graduate of the Temple University School of Medicine, was expected to be released Monday after being shot in the neck. Dr. Sridhar Chilimuri, the physician-in-chief at Bronx-Lebanon, said she’d made an impressive recovery.
“The injury was such that only the bone was fractured, not the blood vessels and the nerves, so that was probably how she was able to recover,” Chilimuri said.
Dr. James Mathew, a 27-yearold med student, was shot in the knee and suffered a head injury. He’s been talking to his family at Mount Sinai Hospital.
“We think there may be a bullet that ricocheted from the wall and gave him a violent concussion,” Chilimuri said. “That probably caused the bleeding of the brain and the rapid swelling of the brain.”
Dr. Hassan Tariq, a 32-year-old attending physician, was shot in the wrist. Colleagues were hopeful they’d saved Tariq’s hand — and his
career.
Kenya Blondell, a medical assistant, recalled Tariq running out of the 16thfloor stairwell yelling, “I’ve been shot!”
“It was like something from a horror movie . . . there was blood everywhere,” Blondell, of Westchester County, said.
“He was just screaming, ‘Save my hand, save my hand!’ and that was our goal . . . . I know as a doctor that is the most vital part of his job.”
Tariq was “doing well,” according to Chilimuri.
Dr. Justin Timperio, a 29-year-old from Canada, was shot in the chest and abdomen. He was undergoing additional surgery at Mount Sinai, officials said.
CTV reported that he had been shot as many as nine times and suffered kidney and liver damage. “These are complex injuries,” Chilimuri said. “He may need a few more procedures before he fully recovers.” Dr. Edy Hasrouni, 31, a medical student shot in the stomach, remained in intensive care at Bronx-Lebanon. A patient, Wildanio Guareno, 26, was shot in the left knee. Hospital staff said they were trying to regain a sense of normalcy — but that the slaying of Dr. Tracy Sin-Yee Tam was heartbreaking. Dr. Douglas Reich, the chairman of family medicine and Tam’s supervisor, said she had chosen to dedicate herself to the less fortunate patients who passed through the Bronx hospital daily.
“Tracy had the opportunity to work basically anywhere she wanted in New York City, and she chose Bronx-Lebanon . . . because of the people that we serve. She wanted truly to connect with people that were disenfranchised, underserved,” Reich said.
He added that Tam, 32, often spoke proudly of her roots in China. A GoFundMe for Tam’s family has raised $27,731.
Tam was not supposed to be working the day Bello attacked. She was covering a shift for a colleague.
“It’s just so unfortunate that she was there at the wrong time,” Chilimuri said.