A mentally ill patient fatally shot a doctor inside East Jefferson General Hospital in Louisiana before taking his own life on March 25.
Police say the motive behind the apparent murder-suicide in greater New Orleans was a medical diagnosis given to former patient John P. Thomas.
Thomas, 73, walked into Dr. Elbert H. Goodier’s office inside the hospital around 2 p.m. and shot the urologist once while he was treating a patient. Thomas then took his own life shortly after the shooting in a nearby Wendy’s, according to The Advocate.
Goodier, 75, was a revered member of the medical community, a husband and father of three.
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Thomas had no prior criminal record, but his family said he’d struggled with mental illness for much of his life, having been treated with both medication and therapy. The family released a statement saying they were praying for the relatives of Goodier.
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