Gun terror at America's top hospital: Man shoots doctor before killing his own mother and then himself

Victim: Dr David Cohen was shot by 

the gunman in the terror at Johns Hopkins 

yesterday. He is expected to survive

A gunman today killed himself and his mother as police prepared to storm the hospital room where he had barricaded himself in after shooting a doctor.
The gunman, Warren Davis, 50, was believed to be enraged over his sick mother's medical care at prestigious Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore.
Police said Davis was briefed about his mother's medical condition by a doctor outside her hospital room at  just after 11am this morning when he became 'emotionally distraught' and 'overwhelmed'.
He then took a small semi-automatic handgun from his waistband and fired a single gunshot that struck the doctor - believed to be spinal expert David Cohen - in the lower chest, upper abdomen.
'The doctor collapsed outside the doorway and Mr Davis ran into the room brandishing the gun at his mother who was confined to the bed,' a police spokesman said.
Police evacuated the floor in the Nelson Building, a thoracic centre on the sprawling campus, where the gunman was cornered and negotiators from a police SWAT team tried to coax him into surrendering for more than two hours.

Medical drama: A gunman and his mother is dead and the doctor he shot is in stable condition after a siege at John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore

But at 1.30pm, armed officers broke into the room to discover the mother, Jean Davis, dead in her bed from gunshot wounds and her son dying on the floor.
Neither the police or hospital authorities would comment on the news the gunman was told about his mother's health.

An inquiry was being launched this afternoon into how Mr Davis was able to bring a weapon into the hospital.

There were conflicting reports after it was initially claimed that the man was shot and killed by police officers.

But a Baltimore police spokesman later confirmed that he killed himself after murdering his mother.

Murder-suicide: Baltimore City police officers enter the hospital after reports the gunman had taken a hostage. He later shot himself and his mother who was being treated at the hospital.

Dr Cohen was rushed into surgery immediately after being shot and his condition was said to be ‘stable.’
He is an assistant professor and  orthopedic surgeon at Johns Hopkins. He also has a fellowship in  spinal reconstructive surgery.

The 45-year-old University of Rochester 
graduate specializes in research into osteoporosis and scoliosis.
'We do know the doctor will be okay,' a police spokesman said. 'He is the best place in the world to be treated in these circumstances.’

His abdominal injuries were said to be non-life threatening.

A nurse who said she was on the floor at the time of the 11am shooting said the man was angry about his mother’s care. She said he was threatening to jump out of a window.

‘I started running. When you hear gunshots you run,’ she added.

‘He is in a hospital room with his mother and was upset about some surgery carried out on her,’ a source told the Baltimore Sun.

A Baltimore Police spokesman would not confirm the report.

The ER and other parts of the hospital were running as usual. The FBI and SWAT teams were both at the scene.

‘As a precaution, Johns Hopkins Hospital has temporarily restricted access to main hospital buildings following a report this morning of a disturbance and possible shooting on one of the floors,’ said Johns Hopkins officials in a statement.

‘City police and Hopkins security officers are on the scene and are asking employees, visitors, patients and caregivers to stay in their rooms or offices with the door locked if possible until further notice.’
Jacqueline Billy, a nurse who works in respiratory care, said she was on the seventh floor when the shooting took place.

She got in an elevator, accidentally went up to the eighth floor, and when the elevator doors opened, police with guns drawn ordered her to shut the door.

‘I was petrified, the door opened and there are a bunch of guns. You never expect that,’ she said.

The incident has parallels with the sensational season finale of the medical drama ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ when a gunman runs amok gunning for surgeons at the show’s fictional hospital in Seattle.
In the dramatic storyline, the killer claimed he was out for revenge because his wife died at the hospital.