A man was shot and killed Monday on Superior Avenue near Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach, police said.
Multiple people have identified the victim as Dr. Ronald Gilbert, who worked at Orange Coast Urology, but police have not released the victim's name.
A phone message at the urology office said the office had to close Monday due to an emergency.
Newport Beach Police Department Deputy Chief David McGill confirmed to the Los Angeles Times that the slain man was a doctor but had no other details about him or the alleged gunman, who was taken into custody without incident at the scene, on the second floor of an office building at 520 Superior Ave.
Workers in the building said the shooting occurred in an exam room.
Police said the shooting occurred in an office portion of the building.
"I sit right at the front desk; I would have caught the first bullet," said Becky Calderwood, who works two doors down from the office where the shooting happened. "This is nuts; people are just shooting everyone all the time."
Calderwood said the shooter was an elderly patient.
Shortly after the shooting, police led an older man wearing a baseball cap in handcuffs out of the building.
Authorities received a call about 2:45 p.m. that six or seven shots were fired, according to police spokeswoman Kathy Lowe.
A source with knowledge of the shooting said the building was a medical office affiliated with Hoag.
Lowe said officers found both the victim and the suspect in the area where the shooting occurred when they arrived.
The suspect was taken into custody without incident at 2:50 p.m., according to Lowe.
"We won't know a motive until our detectives have a chance to interview the suspect later tonight," Lowe said.
Kristin Crotty works directly above Gilbert's office. She said she heard gunshots but "blew it off as construction."
She said what she heard sounded like a nail gun, and she didn't know what was going on until she called building services and they told her to lock her door.
A sign outside the three-story medical building says the building houses Hoag outpatient services and lists the Allen Diabetes Center, physicians' offices and a CHOC diabetes center as occupants.
About eight employees wearing white lab coats huddled outside late Monday afternoon, unable to enter the building, but the office was not entirely evacuated.
"I am terrified," Crotty said. "I just want to get home to my family right now."
A neighbor who lives near Gilbert's large hacienda-style home in Huntington Harbour said the family was "really nice."
"I have nothing but good things to say," neighbor Betty Combs said. "They are practicing orthodox Jews. On Saturdays, they dressed to the nines and walked to synagogue."
Anyone with information in the case is asked to call detectives at (800) 550-NBPD or (949) 644-3762.
No comments:
Post a Comment