Thread: Knoxville TN hospital shooting

Goes right along with Kraker's thread about carrying if you ask me..

http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2010/ap...g-ends-2-dead/

Police have yet to offer a motive in a shooting at Parkwest Medical Center that left one woman dead and two others wounded before the gunman killed himself Monday afternoon.

Authorities have released few details in the shooting, which was reported just after 4:30 p.m. outside the patient discharge area of the West Knoxville hospital.

The two surviving victims were taken to the University of Tennessee Medical Center, where their conditions were not yet determined.

Rachel Wattenbarger, 40, was killed, according to the Knoxville Police Department. The other two victims are identified as Ariane Guerin, 26, and Nancy Chancellor, 32.

Police declined to identify the gunman, pending notification of relatives. All three victims are current or former Parkwest employees, said Knoxville Police Chief Sterling P. Owen IV.

The gunman “does not appear to be (a Parkwest) employee, past or present,” Owen said.

Nor has the preliminary investigation uncovered any connection between any of the victims and the shooter, he added.

Through a spokesman with UT Medical Center, the families of the surviving victims released statements Monday night, both expressing thanks for the public’s prayers and support, and indicating that the women’s prognoses were promising.

Red Star Taxi driver Fuad “Freddy” Sakhleh said he was still shaking hours after he unknowingly drove the gunman to the hospital in his shuttle van, only to witness the sudden shooting.

“He jumped out of the van and went over to two women,” Sakhleh said. “He shot one and then shot the other. … I can’t get the scene out of my mind.”

Sakhleh said he picked up the man at Kingston Pointe Apartments, 6315 Kingston Pike, and initially drove him to a medical office building adjacent to Parkwest.

“The fare was $18,” he said. “He gave me a $20 and said, ‘Wait for me.’ ”

The man briefly went inside before he returned and asked to be taken to the emergency room nearby — the patient discharge area is at Parkwest’s former emergency room entrance.

The man asked the driver to keep the meter running again as he went inside, returning soon thereafter.

Just as Sakhleh began to ease his cab out of a parking space at the entrance, he said, the man suddenly jumped back out and headed for two women who appeared to be waiting for the bus, the driver said.

Sakhleh said he witnessed the suspect pull a handgun from his waistband, shoot one woman and then shoot the second as she attempted to flee. Sakhleh said he immediately dialed E-911 and did not witness the third victim get shot.

Sakhleh said he got a bad vibe from the man as soon as he picked him up.

“I’m a cab driver — I can talk to anybody,” he said. “He wouldn’t talk to me, tell me his name. He wasn’t friendly. He acted a little tense.”

Dozens of police converged on the scene within minutes of the shootings. The hospital was placed on lockdown while heavily armed city and county SWAT teams moved through the building floor by floor looking for any other potential suspects.

Meanwhile, the body of a man was lying on the sidewalk at the entrance to the patient discharge area as investigators combed the scene.

“We have cleared the hospital and there do not appear to be any other suspects out there,” Owen later said.

Kevin Kitts, a medical equipment technician with Fresenius Medical Care, said he was coming out of the patient discharge exit when a woman ran in saying there had been a shooting. He turned a corner to find the glass in the doorway shattered, and a man lying face-down in a pool of blood on the pavement outside. It was obvious, Kitts said, that the man had been shot in the head.

Most places it is illegal for a taxi driver to have any sort of weapon on his person while driving.

Originally Posted by Blakeman

Most places it is illegal for a taxi driver to have any sort of weapon on his person while driving.

I'm sure the shooter was just ignorant of the law. I mean, if he'd known it was illegal to have a gun or shoot it at people, I'm thinking he would have definitely found another outlet for his angst like poetry or painting.

Originally Posted by Consultant

Originally Posted by Blakeman

Most places it is illegal for a taxi driver to have any sort of weapon on his person while driving.

I'm sure the shooter was just ignorant of the law. I mean, if he'd known it was illegal to have a gun or shoot it at people, I'm thinking he would have definitely found another outlet for his angst like poetry or painting.

The DRIVER, not the passenger. Meaning all the driver could have done was call the police, not keep the guy from doing anything.

edit:nvm, I think you are being sarcastic...

Originally Posted by Consultant

Originally Posted by Blakeman

Most places it is illegal for a taxi driver to have any sort of weapon on his person while driving.

I'm sure the shooter was just ignorant of the law. I mean, if he'd known it was illegal to have a gun or shoot it at people, I'm thinking he would have definitely found another outlet for his angst like poetry or painting.

HAHAHAH

Good stuff.

Anyone else feel really bad for the taxi driver? I mean... Damn.

Yes, more guns would have helped because this guy was obviously afraid to die, that is why he...oh wait.

I am a proponent of the right to bear arms, but in cases like this even if the whole hospital staff was armed this guys was still going to play shoot 'em ups.

Originally Posted by CivilWars

Yes, more guns would have helped because this guy was obviously afraid to die, that is why he...oh wait.

I am a proponent of the right to bear arms, but in cases like this even if the whole hospital staff was armed this guys was still going to play shoot 'em ups.

Yup. I am a HUGE pro gun advocate, but I also agree with Civil. An armed society is safer, this has been proven time and again. That doesn't mean no one is ever going to get shot again, instances like this will still happen no matter what.