Posted on 07/24/2014 5:07:21 PM PDT by mandaladon
DARBY, Pa. – A doctor who was grazed by gunfire from a patient in his office at a suburban hospital on Thursday helped stop him by apparently returning fire with his own weapon and severely injuring him, but not before a caseworker was killed, authorities said.
The patient opened fire after entering the office with the caseworker, District Attorney Jack Whelan said. Witnesses reported hearing yelling before the gunshots.
Several hours after the shooting, investigators had only limited information on what happened inside the closed office but believe the doctor, a psychiatrist, "from all accounts, would have acted in self-defense," Whelan said.
The doctor, who suffered a graze wound to his head, "faced a situation where his life was in jeopardy," Whelan said.
Yeadon Police Chief Donald Molineux said that, "without a doubt, I believe the doctor saved lives."
"Without that firearm, this guy (the patient) could have went out in the hallway and just walked down the offices until he ran out of ammunition," Molineux said.
The dead caseworker was identified only as a 53-year-old woman who had entered the doctor's office with the patient before the gunfire erupted. Police said they were trying to find relatives to notify.
Two guns were recovered, Whelan said. Authorities said the motive for the shooting was unknown.
The patient, who was critically injured and was taken into custody, was identified as Richard Plotts, an Upper Darby resident in his mid-30s.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Clearly the doctor should have called 911 and waited for police to arrive. Only police, after waiting for a SWAT team to arrive should have engaged the shooter as they are the only one properly trained to respond to a situation like this. /s
....And only after waiting a sufficient time to analyze the situation before entering he building !
I'll go waaaaaaaaay out on a limb here: The shooter is bat**** crazy.
If there is justification for anybody to carry a weapon, it would be a psychiatrist.
That one's easy: to make unarmed people DIE!
LOL...yeah right. The Darby Doc is my kind of Physician.
Amen, if you treat the insane then it stand to reason at some point you will have to protect yourself. So many in Psychiatric services have been attacked at some point.
Wait, this couldn’t have happened all clinics medical offices and hospitals are gun free zones, they’re clearly marked with a sign on the door visible from ten feet.
So who did ‘Dick’ vote for? I’m guessing he’s a socialist.
Note that this occurred in a disarmed victim zone, and less than four people were killed by the assailant.
Because less than four people were killed by the assailant, the disarmed population proponents will say:
“See, he did not stop a mass killing! It does not qualify as a mass killing, because less than four people were killed!
Everybody should understand that “catch 22”.
This shooting will be added to the over 15 others on this list:
http://gunwatch.blogspot.com/2012/12/mass-killings-stopped-by-armed-citizens.html
That doctor will probably lose his job. Beats dying, though.
From the article: the doctor definitely saved
lives.
Can’t we say the doctor’s gun saved lives by itself?
“Physician, arm thyself.”
> Can’t we say the doctor’s gun saved lives by itself?
No, we can only say that guns kill people.
[If it wasn’t for double standards the Left would have no standards at all.]
Guns save lives. That is a proven fact once again.
In one of those "Inside The Walls" shows about life in a California maximum-security prison, there's a scene in which an inmate is having his weekly (or maybe monthly) session with his state-provided psychiatrist.
What was striking about it was that the entire session was conducted with the inmate standing inside a steel cage the size of an old-fashioned telephone booth. And this wasn't a wire-mesh cage. It was a cage made out of steel plate, perforated with what looked like 3/8" holes.
This was outdoors. The psychiatrist was standing also, dressed in casual clothes. The tone of the conversation was also casual. They were talking about the inmates plans for what he would be doing after his release (which was about a month away).
So who shot the case worker?
I’d bet on it. How do we look up guys like this on the internet, again?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.