‘Jilted’ gunman stands over his doctor ex and kills her before hospital rampage
A “JILTED” gunman killed his former fiancée after demanding she return a ring before shooting two other people dead at a hospital in Chicago.
The attacker, named in reports as Juan Lopez, gunned down emergency room doctor Tamara O’Neal in the car park of the Mercy Hospital. He then ran into the building and killed pharmacist Dayna Less, 25, and police officer Samuel Jimenez, 28.
The attacker also died but it was not clear if he took his own life or was killed by police. Dr O’Neal was reporting for her shift yesterday when she was confronted by Lopez just before 3.30pm.
They had reportedly planned to get married on October 27 but Dr O’Neal, 38, called off the wedding in September. Witnesses said Lopez demanded a ring from her, before firing three shots, then standing over her body and firing three more times.
A witness in a van in the car park said the doctor had run over for help after being confronted: “She got on the phone and she was trying to call the police. She asked us not to leave her alone because he is going to kill her.”
Lopez then approached Dr O’Neal and demanded the ring. She said she did not have it and he pulled out a gun. Steve Mixon, a clerk in the emergency department, said: “She was trying to avoid him and move around. And when she saw me, she waved for me to come that way.” He ran towards her and then, after Lopez fired, ran to the hospital for help.
James Gray said: “The gentleman turned around and shot [her] three times in the chest. Once she fell to the ground, he turned around and shot her three more times.” When police arrived, Lopez fired at their car then ran inside the hospital, pursued by the officers.
Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson said that inside, the gunman exchanged fire with officers and “shot a poor woman [Ms Less] who just came off the elevator” before he died. Ms Less was a newly graduated pharmacist in her first year as a resident, and was engaged to be married.
Officer Jimenez was taken to University of Chicago Hospital, where he later died. He was a married father-of-three and had only just completed his probationary period on the force.
A second policeman only avoided injury because a bullet lodged in his gun inside his holster.
Pharmacy worker Jennifer Eldridge barricaded herself in a shop seconds after hearing the initial shots. She then heard six or seven more just outside the door. “I could tell he was now inside the