A gunman who wounded a doctor at Johns Hopkins hospital in Baltimore and then barricaded himself inside a room has been shot and killed by officers, Baltimore police said Thursday.
Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said the doctor, who was shot in the stomach, was undergoing surgery and is expected to survive.
"The doctor will be OK," Guglielmi said. "He's in the best place in the world -- at Johns Hopkins hospital."
He said he did not know the relationship between the gunman -- described as a man in his 30s -- and the doctor. The hospital said in a statement that the doctor is a faculty physician but that it could not release more information because of privacy policies.
A small area of the hospital had been locked down before the gunman was killed, as about a dozen officers wearing vests and helmets and carrying assault weapons prepared to go into the hospital at midday. Guglielmi said the gunman had not taken any hostages, and people with appointments in other parts of the hospital were encouraged to keep them.
The FBI was assisting Baltimore police, said FBI spokesman Richard J. Wolf.
Hopkins spokesman Gary Stephenson said the gunman was on the eighth floor of the Nelson building, the main hospital tower. Guglielmi said the situation was contained to that part of the hospital, and no people had been locked in rooms or otherwise in danger.
According to the Hopkins website, the eighth floor is home to orthopedic, spine, trauma and thoracic services.
The rest of the massive hospital, research and medical education complex remained open, including the emergency department.
With more than 30,000 employees, Johns Hopkins Medicine is among Maryland's largest private employers and the largest in Baltimore. The hospital has more than 1,000 beds and more than 1,700 full-time doctors.
------
Associated Press writer Ben Nuckols contributed to this report.
Shares