Four dead in Chicago hospital shooting

Four people, including the shooter, died after a gunman opened fire in the parking lot at Mercy Hospital in Chicago on Monday. 

Authorities said the gunman started shooting after a "verbal altercation" with an emergency room doctor with whom he was in a domestic relationship. The shooter then ran into the hospital and killed two more people before dying himself.

How the events unfolded

• Authorities received reports between 3:00 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. local time (900 and 930 UTC) of shots being fired near Mercy Hospital, located in the northern part of Chicago's South Side, and required a "heavy police response."
• Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson said the events started to unfold in the hospital parking lot, where the gunman began a "verbal altercation" with Tamara O'Neal, 38, an emergency room doctor and, according to Chicago media, his former fiancee.
• As the fight with O'Neal escalated, the shooter pulled out a handgun and killed the doctor. Police have defined this first killing as an act of domestic violence. 
• When officers arrived, the gunman fired at the squad and ran into the hospital. There, he exchanged fire with the officers and killed Dayna Less, 25, a first year pharmacy resident and police officer Samuel Jimenez, 28.

• The suspected gunman died in the shooting, but Anthony Gugliemi, communications director for the Chicago police, said it was unclear whether he took his own life or was killed by police. 
• Mercy Hospital later confirmed that police had "secured the hospital" and that the patients were safe.

'Praying for the victims'

Illinois Senator Dick Durbin, who holds the second highest senate position for the opposition Democrats, said he was "praying for the victims" and was "extremely grateful" for the police response.

Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel said the incident "tears at the soul of our city, it is the face and the consequence of evil."

Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson said the way his officers responded prevented more deaths.

Referring to pharmacy resident Dayne Less, Johnson said: "That poor woman that got off an elevator, had nothing to do with nothing and he shot her. Why?"  

"There is no doubt in my mind that all those officers that responded were heroes and saved a lot of lives because we just don't know how much damage he was prepared to do," he said.

Another shooting: Earlier this month, a man, later identified as a former marine, opened fire in a music bar in Thousand Oaks, California. Twelve people were killed and ten more were wounded. There have been at least 300 mass shootings [a mass shooting is defined as a shooting causing four or more fatalities.] in the United States this year.

gs/jm (AFP, AP, Reuters)

Every evening at 1830 UTC, DW's editors send out a selection of the day's hard news and quality feature journalism. You can sign up to receive it directly here.