The incident happened at around 2:45 pm Friday on the 16th floor of the Bronx-Lebanon Hospital. A gunman, identified as 45-year-old Dr. Henry Bello, shot at least six people with an M-16-type rifle, killing one, before turning the gun on himself. An NYPD spokesman posted on Twitter that a shooter, listed as a family physician, was deceased at the hospital.

Workplace violence at Bronx-Lebanon Hospital

NBC New York describes the incident as workplace violence. According to NBC sources, Bello resigned from his job at the hospital back in 2015, reportedly in lieu of being fired.

However, circumstances surrounding his resignation are not clear.

That report also mentioned that during the active shooter situation, there were many police vehicles gridlocking the surrounding streets, with officers surveying the roof of the hospital from a helicopter flying above, with their guns drawn.

The NYPD Special Operations Division posted on Twitter that there was an active shooter situation at the hospital with a man dressed in black. However, NBC reports that Bello was wearing a white lab coat. The tweet added that there was smoke coming from the 16th floor of the hospital.

Officers searched the hospital for the shooter and discovered a trail of blood between the second and eighth floors. At that time, the shooter was believed to have barricaded himself on the 16th floor.

Three of the victims were doctors

In a report by the New York Times, it mentioned that three of the victims in the Shooting rampage were doctors.

According to an NYPD official, the victims were apparently shot on the 16th and 17th floors, while Bello shot himself on the 17th floor. Police sources report that at least 20 people were injured in the ensuing chaos as they attempted to flee the hospital. Police then evacuated the hospital. However, some people barricaded themselves inside.

NBC quotes a pregnant woman who only gave her name as Maya. She was in the pediatrics unit of the hospital when the panic broke out as people heard there was an active shooter in the building. Someone told her and her fiancé that there was a man with a rifle shooting people in the hospital and that everyone was panicking. Maya said that as everyone tried to rush out of the building, they heard the shots. She and her fiancé ran to the bathroom. They eventually followed a group of nurses out of the hospital but it took around an hour to get out of the building.

The Bronx-Lebanon Hospital reportedly has one of the busiest emergency rooms in New York City and has around 1,000 beds.