What to Know
- A family medicine doctor formerly employed with Bronx-Lebanon Hospital opened fire on two floors, killing one doctor and injuring others
- The gunman, identified as 45-year-old Henry Bello, shot himself on the 17th floor; an assault rifle was found nearby
- Investigators say the shooting appears to be a case of workplace violence
A doctor wielding an assault rifle stormed Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center Friday, gunning down at least six staffers before taking his own life, according to a senior law enforcement officials. Police have identified the shooter as 45-year-old Henry Bello, a former employee at the hospital with an extensive arrest record.
Details continue to develop, but here's what we know about him now:
- The shooter has been identified as Dr. Henry Michael Bello, a 45-year-old Nigeria-born family medicine doctor formerly employed at the hospital, according to sources.
- Authorities believe he wore a doctor's coat and used his old badge to sneak past security at the hospital.
- Bello was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on the 17th floor after a two-story shooting rampage that left one doctor -- a woman who has yet to be identified -- dead and others fighting for their lives.
- A senior law enforcement official said Bello asked for a specific doctor on the 16th floor. When he was told that doctor wasn't there, he became angry and started shooting at everyone.
- Officials said Bello tried to set himself on fire before committing suicide. A photo provided by authorities shows him dead on the floor of the hospital, wearing a bloodied doctor's coat.
- Bello used an AR-15 in the shooting. It wasn't immediately known if he obtained the rifle legally.
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- Sources tell NBC 4 New York a preliminary investigation reveals Bello was hired at the hospital in Aug. 2014 as a house physician, but resigned from the hospital in Feb. 2015 in lieu of termination.
- He went to medical school on the island of Dominica in the Caribbean.
- Bello has past arrests for sex abuse, turnstile jumping, burglary and public urination, law enforcement sources said.
- A New York State licensing website does not reveal any disciplinary history.
- Senior law enforcement officials describe Bello as a transient recently, with at least five different addresses since he left the hospital.
- Police are investigating the shooting as a case of workplace violence; authorities say there is no indication of a nexus to terror.
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