Dr. Katherine Lindley Dodson, a pediatrician at the Children’s Medical Group in Austin, was killed in a suicide murder on Tuesday when a doctor with a terminal illness entered the clinic with a gun.
The Austin police are still trying to figure out how and why this tragedy happened, but tributes have arisen in the past 24 hours over the incredible person and the doctor who was Dr. Dodson.
Leslie Chunta, who lives in Austin and had two children in the care of Dr. Dodson, said she has always endeavored to care for her children, even recently, months after a check-up to share new information that could help her son.
“On New Year’s Eve, she called me and mentioned that she had done some additional training and thought about my son, and she did her best to call me and ask how my son is doing, and how I was doing,” she told Fox News. “We were really struggling, so it was kind of a breath of fresh air to hear it. It started us on the way to help my son get some resources to help make his life better, make our life better as a family. Without it evangelism , without her support, my son would not have a lawyer. “
The family of Dr. Katherine Lindley Dodson, who was killed in a murder-suicide on Tuesday, shared this photo.
(Family of Dr. Katherine Lindley Dodson)
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It was not just about Dr. Dodson’s work ethic and caring for his patients, as Chunta said that Dr. Dodson always radiated “positivity, love and happiness”.
“My son loves to go see her. Some of the things he is working on, he was very excited to tell her,” said Chunta. “I don’t know how I’m going to tell my son that we won’t be able to see her.”
Laura Whittaker, whose son has been in Dr. Dodson’s care since last January, said that from day one, “not only did she make us feel that everything was going to be okay, but she was the kind of doctor who made you feel like she really was in it with you. “
“It has been interesting to see how he reacts and develops with different people over time,” Whittaker told Fox News. “We saw her two weeks ago for her 12-month check-up, and I had a feeling he remembered her just from seeing her every few months as a child.”
Daniel Abernathy shared this photo of his son being treated by Dr. Dodson.
(Twitter / Daniel Abernathy @ dabernathy89)
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Karen Vladeck, whose two children were in the care of Dr. Dodson, tweeted that Dr. Dodson “made you feel like your child’s illness was the only one that mattered at the time, even though you knew there was a line of other children and parents waiting anxiously to see you.”
“She lived close to us and I used to see her running, taking her 3 children for various activities or to the park,” wrote Vladeck. “Even though she had hundreds of patients, she always asked, ‘How is Syd’s ear? How is Maddie feeling after the vaccine?'”
Dr. Dodson left her three children and her husband. His family said in a statement on Wednesday that “they are devastated by the tragic, sudden and meaningless loss of our beloved Lindley”.
“As a mother, wife, daughter, friend and dedicated pediatrician, she radiated light, love and joy in everything she did and everyone she touched. She developed an immediate relationship with her patients and had the unique ability to make you feel like the only person in the room, “said his family. “We are very grateful for the display of love and concern, but due to the continuing nature of this investigation and our request for privacy during this terrible period, we will have no further comment.”
A tribute to Dr. Katherine Lindley Dodson
(Family of Dr. Katherine Lindley Dodson)
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Police said the tragedy hit the Children’s Medical Group at about 4:30 pm on Tuesday, when Dr. Bharat Narumanchi, who had just been diagnosed with cancer and received “weeks to live”, entered the facility with a pistol, a shotgun and two suitcases.
Dr. Narumanchi initially took five hostages, but four escaped or were dismissed. The negotiators spent hours trying to communicate with Dr. Narumanchi through a megaphone until a SWAT team discovered the bodies of Dr. Narumanchi and Dr. Dodson on Tuesday night.
Dr. Dodson received her bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Washington & Lee University in 1999, then received her doctorate in medicine from the Louisiana State University School of Medicine in New Orleans in 2003, according to her LinkedIn.
After graduating, she worked as a pediatric resident at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, as a medical school instructor at Harvard Medical School and as an emergency physician at Boston Children’s Hospital.
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She worked as a pediatric hospitalist for a decade at Seton Health Care Family, which is part of Dell Children’s Medical Center.
“Last night, we received the tragic news that one of our former Dell Children hospitalists, Dr. Lindley Dodson, was killed last night. We are shocked and saddened by this news, and our thoughts and prayers are with Dr’s family . Dodson, friends and colleagues, “a Dell Children’s Medical Center spokesman told Fox News in a statement. “Dr. Dodson was a hardworking and compassionate provider that we will be sorely missed.”