Red Deer doctor remembered for his compassion
Patient faces murder charge after attack with hammer, machete
With tearful eyes and lowered heads, former patients, acquaintances, colleagues and strangers laid flowers, balloons, and stuffed animals at an impromptu memorial Tuesday outside the clinic where a long-time Red Deer doctor was killed, and the day a patient was charged with his murder.
Margaret Quinton folded her hands, weeping, as she bent down to look at a photograph of her doctor of 15 years. Her husband put his arm around his wife and rubbed her back.
“He made you feel special, like you’re the only one,” she said, crying.
“He did that, I know, not just for us, but for hundreds of people. And he was a very good man.”
Dr. Walter Reynolds, 45, a husband and father of two originally from South Africa, was fatally attacked inside an examination room at Village Mall Walk-in Clinic Monday morning.
Clinic office manager Debbie York said Reynolds was full of life, caring, funny and a good boss for more than a decade. She said he was also a prankster.
“He liked to scare you, say, ‘Boo!’ out of nowhere,” she said. “He was really a lovable person, an awesome father of two young, little girls, a beautiful wife.”
RCMP said Tuesday the victim and suspect knew each other.
“It wasn’t a random attack,” said Supt. Gerald Grobmeier, Red Deer RCMP detachment commander, giving an update at noon Tuesday.
Deng Mabiour, 54, is charged with first-degree murder, as well as assault of a peace officer and assault with a weapon (a machete or imitation of ) on another physician, court documents show.
Deng Wil Luol Deng, who lives in South Sudan but knows Mabiour from the South Sudanese community in Red Deer, said he is shocked by the allegations.
“I am very sorry and very sad about what happened,” he said in a Facebook message to The Canadian Press. “We still don’t know why.”
Police said the suspect and the doctor knew each other through the clinic, but did not specify their relationship. A spokesperson for the Red Deer Primary Care Network, however, said Mabiour was a patient.
The fatal attack just after 11 a.m. inside the central Alberta clinic, filled with roughly 13 people at the time, has the community grieving but also rallying around the physician’s widow and two daughters.
“Our community is reeling from this event,” said an emotional Grobmeier, encouraging anyone who needs help processing what happened to contact local victim services support.
A fundraiser to support the education of Reynolds’ children had a $20,000 goal but hit more than $71,000 by noon Tuesday.
“Walter tragically lost his life serving his community as a family doctor,” states the gofundme effort.
“An unimaginable, horrific act of violence took him away from his loving family. He was attacked in his office by a patient.
“His friends, colleagues and community mourn an exceptional human being lost too soon. We all are devastated and heartbroken.”
The tribute describes Reynolds as a “devout father to two amazing young daughters and a loving husband. He loved to run, be healthy and, most of all, spent time with his family.”
Just after noon on Monday, Red Deer RCMP reported that one person inside the clinic at Village Mall, 6230 50 Ave., had been attacked with a weapon and suffered life-threatening injuries. A man was in custody and no one else was being sought in the case.
Just after 2 p.m. Monday, RCMP declared the case a homicide. A media event to provide more details was then held by an emotional Grobmeier around 9:30 p.m. He said called the violence “sickening” adding that police are heartbroken for the family and their community.
The walk-in clinic was full of witnesses when the assault began inside one of the examination rooms.
Anina Mullin, who has been a patient of Reynolds since 2006, was standing in line when she heard her doctor screaming for help, to call 911.
The receptionist asked if anyone could help before two male patients raced to the room, reporting that the doctor was being beaten over the head with a hammer, said Mullin. Everyone then ran outside, with the two male patients holding the front door to the clinic shut to keep the assailant inside.
Police then arrived, said Mullin, ordering the suspect to put down his weapon before a bloodied hammer was thrown out the door, nearly striking an officer. Police later said an officer dealing with the suspect had suffered minor injuries. The suspect was then told to “put down the machete,” Mullin said, and then about 10 members entered the building and came out with the suspect in handcuffs.
She described the man as wearing a hoodie, over six feet tall and with a disposable face mask pulled down past his chin. He was covered in blood, with a smirk on his face.
Reynolds was also covered in blood when emergency responders brought him out next on a stretcher.
The Alberta RCMP Major Crimes Unit is leading the investigation.