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Posted on Tue, Sep. 23, 2003
Baldwin Park, Calif., Hospital Seeks Normalcy after Doctor Is Shot
By Diana L. Roemer, San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Calif.
Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
Sep. 23--BALDWIN PARK, Calif. - The man who allegedly shot a doctor at Kaiser Permanente Baldwin Park Medical Center last week and later killed himself entered the hospital through a rear door, detectives said Monday.
Police say they have determined the shooter, Eugene Guevara, 73, a widower who lived in El Monte, was unhappy with his doctor, urologist Reynaldo Hernandez.
"This is a tragic situation, for the member and the physician," hospital spokeswoman Reyna Del Haro said.
Hernandez, a Pasadena resident, was shot three times in the torso and arm in the Friday attack. He is in stable condition at the Baldwin Park hospital.
He refused interviews, citing family privacy.
The hospital was locked down and partially evacuated after the shooting Friday afternoon.
Guevara was at large until police found him Sunday in the Echo Park District west of downtown Los Angeles, where he shot himself in front of a Pioneer Chicken restaurant.
Security was tight at the hospital Monday.
The urology department office where Hernandez worked was locked.
Private security guards patrolled the hospital.
Safety and patient care are primary concerns, Del Haro said.
"Everybody is coming back to full staff. Employees, patients, everybody was affected," Del Haro said.
Eleven counselors were brought in to meet with persons affected emotionally by the incident, she said.
Police are still piecing together the events.
They talked briefly with the victim, neighbors and two family members, which allowed them to rule out an "active shooter scenario," meaning that Guevara was not randomly targeting victims.
"He had an opportunity to openly fire on a witness doctor whose office was right across the hall," said Lt. Michael Davis of the Baldwin Park Police Department.
Police say two family members, a neighbor and the victim, told them Guevara was unhappy with his medical treatment.
Guevara was being treated for diabetes by Hernandez when it was learned he had prostate cancer.
"He wasn't really responding to the cancer medication," Davis said.
"He was advised of that. He was unhappy with the situation."
A letter found on Guevara's body may provide clues, Baldwin Park police said.
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To see more of the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.sgvtribune.com
© 2003, San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Calif. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.