Man kills doctor, self outside hospital
A man shot and killed a doctor in the parking lot of a northeastern Ohio hospital on Monday, apparently because of a mutual “love interest,” according to police.
The suspect, Michael Wood, killed himself shortly after shooting Dr. George Seese outside Affinity Medical Center in Massillon, about 20 miles south of Akron.
Wood, 50, approached Seese shortly after 2 p.m. as the doctor was walking to his vehicle.
“They both had the same love interest, or dated the same girl,” said Massillon Police Detective Jason Gohlike. “That’s what the shooting was over.”
Police said Seese, 59, of Dalton, died two or three hours after the shooting. Gohlike was uncertain whether Seese died during or after emergency surgery.
Officers found both Seese and Wood on the ground with gunshot wounds when they arrived. Wood had a gun in his hand. Police believe Wood confronted Seese at his black SUV and shot him, then walked to his own vehicle, which was parked behind the doctor’s SUV, and shot himself.
Wood, of the New Philadelphia area, died in the parking lot of a single, self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.
Seese was a cardiologist at Stark Medical Specialties, according to his biography on the group’s website. He specialized in general cardiology, stress testing, echocardiograms and critical-care medicine. Seese practiced at a handful of hospitals, including Affinity, Aultman Hospital in Canton, Union Hospital in Dover and Aultman-Orrville Hospital.
Affinity Medical Center and Washington High School initiated lockdowns when the shooting started.
Susan Koosh, an Affinity spokeswoman, said employees worked swiftly to help safeguard patients and each other after shots were heard outside the facility. Normal operations resumed in the hospital when the lockdown was lifted.
Koosh declined to comment further on the shooting, citing an ongoing police investigation.
A man who lives a few houses down from the hospital said he heard gunfire — about four consecutive shots, a pause, then about two more shots — just after 2 p.m. The man, who did not want to be identified, said he didn’t see or hear anything after that because he went back into his house to take cover.
Courtney Hillard, of Jackson Township in Stark County, was waiting in the emergency room when an alarm went off because of an active shooter outside the building. Hillard was told to lock herself into a nearby room with her son and her cousin. They were hiding behind a bed on the floor of a hospital room for nearly an hour. She was told it was safe to come out of the room around 3 p.m.
Police cleared the scene by about 5 p.m. Monday.