Gunman opens fire on New York hospital, killing doctor

A gunman opened fire inside a New York City hospital on June 30 in a burst of violence that injured several people and left the suspect dead, police said, as local media reported at least three doctors were among the wounded.

Few details about the shooting at Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center were immediately available from official sources. 

The assailant was armed with what appeared to be an M16 assault rifle, state Assemblyman Michael Blake told local television station NY1. Blake, whose district includes the hospital, was informed by state police.

The New York Times, citing information furnished by an unnamed city Fire Department official, reported that three physicians had been shot. Their conditions were unknown.

As least one of the wounded doctors was treated by people inside the hospital who fashioned a tourniquet from an emergency fire hose, according to the official, the Times said.

As many as five or six people may have been wounded, the Times said, citing a law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity. It took police some time to secure the area, preventing emergency medical workers from immediately entering, the Times said.

Two emergency responders carried a bleeding patient down nine flights of stairs to safety, applying pressure to the man's wound on the way down, ambulance worker Robert Maldonado, told a
local CBS News television affiliate.

The elevators in the building were out of service, so they were forced to use the stairwell, he said.
CBS News reported that the gunman, believed to be a former hospital employee, was armed with a rifle and had barricaded himself inside the building as police arrived. A preliminary investigation revealed that the suspect had resigned...