Dispatchers received a call on Tuesday saying that a man entered the Children’s Medical Group offices with a gun and held hostages inside the building.
Initially, several hostages were being held, the police said, but several escaped and others were allowed to leave, except for Dr. Katherine Dodson, a pediatrician at CMG. The hostages told police officers that the man was armed with a pistol and what appeared to be a shotgun, the police said. He also had two backpacks.
The armed man was identified as Dr. Bharat Narumanchi, 43, a pediatrician who was recently diagnosed with terminal cancer, police said. He visited the CMG office a week before the shooting and applied for a volunteer position. In addition to his recent visit, the police were unable to find a connection between Dodson and Narumanchi.
The hostage negotiators then arrived at the scene and tried to make contact with Narumanchi, but were unsuccessful. After repeated attempts, SWAT officers entered the building where they found Dodson and Narumanchi killed by apparent gunshot wounds.
“It looks like Dr. Narumanchi shot himself after shooting Dr. Dodson,” according to the police department statement. The incident is still under investigation.
The Travis County medical examiner will conduct an autopsy to determine the official cause and form of death.
Dodson, 43, joined CMG as a pediatrician in 2017, the medical center website said. She was from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was married and had three children, the website said.