Lindley Dodson, a female pediatrician was shot and killed on Tuesday night by Bharat Narumanchi, a terminally ill doctor who took her hostage alongside other employees.
The tragedy took place at Children’s Medical Group in Austin, Texas.
Narumanchi arrived at the practice with a pistol, a shotgun and two duffel bags at 4.30pm.
He then took the mother-of-three hostage along with four other employees.
The four others either escaped or were let go by Narumanchi, but he held onto Dodson.
After a six hour stand-off during which police negotiators pleaded with him not to kill her or harm himself, Narumanchi shot Dodson dead then killed himself.
It’s unclear where he is from but police say his family had been making plans for him to have hospice care.
Police have not revealed what kind of cancer Narumanchi had been diagnosed with.
A week ago, he went to Dodson’s office in Austin and applied for a volunteer position but was turned down for the role. It is not known why and it’s unclear if it was Dodson who turned him down.