Columbus Police Command and Control van outside of the emergency room of Doctors Hospital in Columbus, GA., where one of the shootings took place, on March 27, 2008. (Dave Bender)
A Muscogee County man went on a shooting spree at Doctors Hospital Thursday afternoon, killing two people and wounding a third.
Columbus Chief of Police Ricky Boren talking with reporters at the scene of the shooting, Doctors Hospital, Columbus, GA., on March 27, 2008. (Dave Bender)
Columbus Police Chief Ricky Boren says 63-year-old Charles Johnston, reportedly a retired Muscogee County schoolteacher killed a male nurse who had taken care of his mother, who had died at the hospital from natural causes:
“The individual had carried a grudge against at least one of the nurses involved in her care from 2004 until today. He came here to the hospital carrying three weapons. He was carrying a nine millimeter automatic, a .380 automatic and a .32 revolver.”Boren, who told reporters that police received a call for assistance at 2:17 pm, says Johnston then shot and killed a second person, and fled to the parking lot. There, he then shot and critically wounded a third individual traveling in a vehicle, as they pulled into the lot.
Law-enforcement officials confer near a Georgia Bureau of Investigation crime scene van in the parking lot of Doctors Hospital, Columbus, GA., on March 27, 2008. (Dave Bender)
Police say the suspect then opened fire on a Muscogee County deputy marshal and a Columbus police office who had been called to the scene. Both returned fire, and were unhurt.
A police detective who arrived on the scene fired at Johnston, wounding him. Johnston was operated on and is in police custody.
Information about family members who were at the hospital at the time of the shootings is available at 706-494-4057.
