CHICAGO HOSP SLAYS
Gunman kills ex-fiancée doc, cop, Rx intern Just add ‘suite’ potato pie
A gunman opened fire in a Chicago hospital Monday — fatally shooting a doctor who was his exf iancée, a police off icer and a pharmaceutical intern, authorities said.
The shooter was also killed. It was not immediately clear whether he was shot by police or turned the gun on himself.
Officer Samuel Jimenez was fatally shot at Mercy Hospital when he responded after the unidentified gunman shot his ex, Dr. Tamara O’Neal, in the parking lot.
“It’s with profound sadness that we share the death of PO Samuel Jimenez from tonight’s senseless active shooter incident,” Chicago police said in a tweet.
“Please pray for his family, his fellow officers & the entire #ChicagoPolice Department.”
The Chicago Tribune reported that Jimenez, a 28-year-old father of three, had been on the city’s police force for less than two years.
Witnesses said they saw the gunman arrive at the hospital at about 3:30 p.m. and get into an argument with O’Neal outside the building. She reportedly had recently broken off their engagement
James Gray told KABC-TV that he saw the shooter walking with O’Neal in the parking lot. The man then turned, shot her in the chest several times and stood over her and continued to f ire, he said.
The gunman then ran into the hospital and “just started shooting at random,” Gray said, describing a scene as “mass chaos.”
As he ran into the building, the killer started to exchange gunfire with Jimenez. The cop was shot as he and the gunman exchanged fire in the lobby.
A second cop was struck, but incredibly was not wounded — because the slug lodged in the gun he was carrying.
During the f iref ight, 25-year-old pharmaceutical assistant Dayna Less was shot just as she stepped into the lobby.
“That woman got off an elevator and was shot. Why?” said Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson.
By then, police had swarmed the building.
“Those officers that responded today saved a lot of lives,” Johnson said.
“They were heroes because we just don’t know how much damage [the shooter] was prepared to do.”
Hospital off icials described O’Neal as a hardworking and religious woman who asked to avoid Sunday shifts so that she could attend church.
Officials said Less was training to become a pharmacist and was a recent graduate of Purdue University in Indiana.