Bullet in chest killed doctor shot in parking lot

FATAL SHOOTING

Dr. George Seese died from a bullet that hit his aorta, said a coroner’s investigator Thursday.

Harry Campbell, chief investigator for the Stark County coroner’s office, said Seese was shot four times in a parking lot of Affinity Medical Center in Massillon, in northeastern Ohio. One bullet damaged his aorta, the main artery of the body.

“There was no possible way that the hospital was going to get him into surgery fast enough to save him,” Campbell said.

Seese died on the operating table about an hour after he was ambushed by Michael A. Wood outside the hospital, Massillon police have said.

The coroner released the autopsy report to the Massillon Police Department, which issued a news release Thursday saying the 59-year-old Seese, of the Dalton area, was wounded in the right leg, right hand, stomach area and upper left torso.

Police said the doctor was shot by Wood, 50, of New Philadelphia. They dispelled postings on social media sites that confused Wood with a Perry ophthalmologist who shares the same name but a different middle initial.

Police told The Independent newspaper of Massillon this week that the shooting was personal and the two “shared a mutual love interest.” It was later determined that Seese was dating Wood’s ex-girlfriend.

Wood shot Seese at close range just after 2 p.m. Monday, as Seese was walking to his vehicle, then Wood shot himself in the head, according to police. Detective Jason Gohlike said Thursday that police are looking at whether Wood had been stalking or harassing Seese prior to the shooting.

The woman deemed a “mutual love interest” was questioned and cleared of any involvement in the shooting by Massillon police at the hospital, Gohlike said. An Affinity worker who knew the woman dating Seese contacted her after the shooting, and the woman, who resides in Tuscarawas County, responded to the hospital.

The funeral for Seese is 3 p.m. Sunday at Living Water Church in Dalton, according to his obituary.

“Skip loved spending time with his family, watching his beloved Steelers, and going on his numerous fishing trips,” his obituary said, noting that he is survived by nine children. “He loved being a doctor, helping his patients, and teaching his medical students.”

A private burial will be held by the family at a later date.

The investigation into the murder-suicide is continuing.