A gunman identified as a doctor opened fire with an assault rifle inside the Bronx-Lebanon Hospital in New York City on Friday, killing a woman and wounding at least six other people before killing himself, law enforcement officials said.
The shooter was identified as Dr. Henry Bello, who previously worked at the hospital, two law enforcement officials told CNN.
Police officers found the gunman, who was wearing a white lab coat and carrying ID, dead on the hospital’s 17th floor. He died of what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound, New York City Police Commissioner James O’Neill said at a news briefing.
The body of a woman who was shot was found near his body, O’Neill said. The woman’s name was not immediately released.
Six people were wounded on the 16th floor, and five of those are in serious condition from gunshot wounds, O’Neill said.
The hospital’s fire alarm system went off during the siege, apparently because the shooter tried to set himself on fire, O’Neill said.
The FBI said the shooting did not appear to be an act of terrorism. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio called it an act of work-related violence.
The shooting started a little before 3 p.m. ET at the 972-bed hospital, one of the largest providers of outpatient services in New York.
Video images from the scene showed hospital employees and others coming out of the hospital’s main entrance, their hands in the air, and crossing the street toward awaiting police officers.
Scenes from the hospital
Krystal Rivera, a 23-year-old patient at the hospital, said she was with her hospital roommate, a visitor and a nurse from the floor when they heard gunshots.
“I barricaded the door with an IV machine, two chairs and my whole bed,” Rivera said.
The visitor looked out and saw a man wearing a green top and a white lab coat and saw that he had a rifle, she said.
In an Instagram video, patient Francisco Bodon said he was stranded in a hot hospital room.
“Here in the room three nurses are hiding in the bathroom. We haven’t been able to leave … We have a little water at least. I’m hiding here with an injured hand and I had leg surgery. The nurses are hiding and they’re telling me to keep my voice down. When will this end?”
“Why do people do these stupid things? People don’t think,” Bodon said. “There is no air conditioning. It’s hot. I hope they got him.”
Hospitals have been the site of active shooting situations in recent years.
In January 2015, a patient’s family member shot and killed cardiac surgeon Michael Davidson before the shooter killed himself at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.
And in Florida last July, a man entered a patient’s room and opened fire, killing an elderly female patient and a female hospital worker, police said. A suspect was taken into custody.