Doctor, Staff Member Die In Hospital Shooting
Police Treat Shooting As Possible Murder-Suicide
POSTED: 10:30 am EDT April 8,
2003
UPDATED: 10:15 pm EDT April 8,
2003
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BOSTON -- A prominent cardiologist and a hospital employee were shot and killed inside a building at Massachusetts General Hospital, officials said Tuesday.
Dr. Brian Anthony McGovern, of Boxford, Mass., and a female hospital employee were shot inside an office at the Gray-Bigelow Building on Blossom Street at 10:09 a.m., Boston Police Department spokeswoman Mariellen Burns said.NewsCenter 5's Jack Harper said that officials are treating the incident as a possible murder-suicide. The hospital and police would not comment on the relationship between McGovern and the woman."We are confident that there is not an assailant on the loose," Burns said. "The male is a physician at the hospital. The female was working at the hospital in some capacity."A firearm was found in the hospital's Arrhythmia Center and Electrophysiology Lab, where the shooting took place. The victims were treated in the emergency room at the hospital, but they died from their injuries."I was walking down the front entrance to the corridor and I saw the security guards running in and heading in the direction toward the end of the hospital. I came outside and there were detectives' cars everywhere," a witness at the scene said.McGovern, 47, was co-director of the Cardiac Arrhythmia Service at the hospital and an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. He was also chairman of the Atrial Fibrillation Foundation.Officials said that McGovern had worked at the hospital since 1981 and his specialty was treating patients with disturbances of the heart rhythm."He was an outgoing and friendly person. He had a nice Irish brogue and a twinkle in his eye. His wife, Anne, is a doctor and they have two daughters," Massachusetts General Hospital Chief Executive Officer Dr. David Torchiana said."Dr. McGovern was always a wonderful colleague. Anytime I asked him to see a patient he would do it immediately. He was wonderful to his patients," Massachusetts General Hospital's Dr. Charlie Welch said.Police did not release the female victim's name, saying that her family had not been notified.
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  Colleagues Shocked By Doctor's DeathMass. General Hospital |
Dr. Brian Anthony McGovern, of Boxford, Mass., and a female hospital employee were shot inside an office at the Gray-Bigelow Building on Blossom Street at 10:09 a.m., Boston Police Department spokeswoman Mariellen Burns said.NewsCenter 5's Jack Harper said that officials are treating the incident as a possible murder-suicide. The hospital and police would not comment on the relationship between McGovern and the woman."We are confident that there is not an assailant on the loose," Burns said. "The male is a physician at the hospital. The female was working at the hospital in some capacity."A firearm was found in the hospital's Arrhythmia Center and Electrophysiology Lab, where the shooting took place. The victims were treated in the emergency room at the hospital, but they died from their injuries."I was walking down the front entrance to the corridor and I saw the security guards running in and heading in the direction toward the end of the hospital. I came outside and there were detectives' cars everywhere," a witness at the scene said.McGovern, 47, was co-director of the Cardiac Arrhythmia Service at the hospital and an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. He was also chairman of the Atrial Fibrillation Foundation.Officials said that McGovern had worked at the hospital since 1981 and his specialty was treating patients with disturbances of the heart rhythm."He was an outgoing and friendly person. He had a nice Irish brogue and a twinkle in his eye. His wife, Anne, is a doctor and they have two daughters," Massachusetts General Hospital Chief Executive Officer Dr. David Torchiana said."Dr. McGovern was always a wonderful colleague. Anytime I asked him to see a patient he would do it immediately. He was wonderful to his patients," Massachusetts General Hospital's Dr. Charlie Welch said.Police did not release the female victim's name, saying that her family had not been notified. Copyright 2007 by TheBostonChannel.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
