Bharat Narumanchi: Texan pediatrician shoots himself and another doctor fatally in Austin hostage-taking, police say

Dispatchers received a call on Tuesday saying a man entered the Children’s Medical Group offices with a gun and was holding hostages inside the building.

Initially, several hostages were being held, police said, but several escaped and others were allowed to leave, with the exception of Dr Katherine Dodson, a pediatrician at CMG. Hostages told police the man was armed with a pistol and what appeared to be a shotgun, police said. He also had two duffel bags.

The gunman has been identified as Dr Bharat Narumanchi, 43, a pediatrician who was recently diagnosed with terminal cancer, police said. He had visited the CMG office a week before the shoot and applied for a volunteer position. Other than his recent visit, police were unable to find a connection between Dodson and Narumanchi.

Hostage negotiators then arrived at the scene and attempted to contact Narumanchi, but without success. After repeated attempts, SWAT officers entered the building where they found Dodson and Narumanchi dead from apparent gunshot wounds.

“It appears that Dr Narumanchi committed suicide after shooting Dr Dodson,” according to the press release from the police department. The incident is still under investigation.

The Travis County Medical Examiner will perform an autopsy to determine the official cause and mode of death.

Flowers draped over the CMG sign on Wednesday as the community mourned Dodson’s death, according to CNN affiliate KEYE-TV.

Dodson, 43, joined CMG as a pediatrician in 2017, the medical center’s website said. She was originally from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and was married with three children, the website said.

“She has the nicest bedside manner,” Michelle Sweitzer told KEYE-TV. “She says to your kids, ‘I love you’ and makes them feel comfortable and is the kindest, most caring doctor.”