FATAL STANDOFF

Doc Who Took Hostages in Texas Doctors’ Office Siege Had Terminal Cancer: Police

Police said Dr. Bharat Narumanchi had applied for a volunteer job at the Austin office last week then showed up on Tuesday armed with a gun.

A pediatrician who killed a fellow doctor during a siege at a Texas doctors’ office on Tuesday afternoon had recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer, the Austin Police Department said Wednesday. In a detailed statement, police said Dr. Bharat Narumanchi had applied for a volunteer job at the Austin office last week. Then, on Tuesday, he showed up armed with a pistol, two duffel bags, and what appeared to be a shotgun—and held workers hostage. Some workers escaped and other hostages were later allowed to leave except for Dr. Katherine Dodson, police said.

Negotiators tried to make contact with Narumanchi, and witnesses told local media they overhead a negotiator saying: “You don’t deserve to go through this... that is why I want to help you work through this. You have saved a lot of lives.” However, they were never able to make contact with Narumanchi and, after five hours, stormed the office. They found Narumanchi and Dodson dead and believe the pediatrician killed Dodson before killing himself. Narumanchi had no known link to Dodson other than applying for the job last week, police said.