RENO, Nev. — The gunman who opened fire at Renown Regional Medical Center, fatally shooting one doctor and critically wounding another on Dec. 17, was upset over what he claimed was a botched surgery.
Alan Frazier, 51, told patients to leave the facility or he would shoot them, expressing that he had a vasectomy at the facility that “ruined his life,” according to the Associated Press. Authorities confirmed that Frazier had received a vasectomy in 2010 at the Urology Nevada, a urology clinic at Renown Regional Medical Center, and had complained about a botched surgery.
Police said Frazier, an unemployed former power plant worker, wrote in a suicide note that he was specifically focused on attacking physicians at the clinic. It is unclear if Frazier had a history of mental illness, although his former fiancée told authorities that he had to take medication for depression.
Many patients barricaded themselves in bathrooms and offices to shield themselves from the shooter. Dispatchers received as many as 50 phone calls during the incident, in which Frazier killed Dr. Charles Gholdoian, 46, president of Urology Nevada. He also critically wounded Dr. Christine Lajeunesse and seriously injured Shantae Spears, who was accompanying a relative on an office visit. Frazier died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
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