Police investigate the scene of a shooting incident at the VA Medical Center Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2019 in Riviera Beach, Fla. A double-amputee Army veteran shot and wounded a doctor just before a mental health evaluation at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs hospital authorities said. (Greg Lovett/Palm Beach Post via AP)
Republished March 01, 2019 - 6:37 AM
Original Publication Date March 01, 2019 - 5:31 AM
RIVIERA BEACH, Fla. - An emergency room doctor says he created a distraction to tackle a double-amputee Army veteran who opened fire inside a Florida hospital.
Dr. Bruce Goldfeder suffered a gunshot wound in the back of his neck in his struggle Wednesday night with 59-year-old Larry Ray Bon at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Riviera Beach.
Bon, who uses an electric wheelchair, arrived at the hospital in the morning and was combative for hours, according to the FBI. Authorities said in the evening, Bon was taken for a mental health evaluation in the emergency room, where he pulled out a gun and began firing.
In a Palm Beach Post report , Goldfeder said he heard gunshots and then Bon yelling something about cigarettes.
Goldfeder yelled, "Police have cigarettes over there" and distracted Bon just long enough to grab his wrist and immobilize the gun. The two men landed on the ground and the gun went off. Goldfeder was hit in the neck
"I got the gun and I took it and then I handed it off to the other doctor and I said, 'Listen, I've been shot. I'm a patient now. Put me on a stretcher,'" Goldfeder said.
Another hospital employee was grazed by a bullet in the shooting.
Bon, originally from Michigan, had one leg amputated after an infection and the other amputated after a car accident.
Authorities have not said how he brought the gun into the hospital.
Bon is in federal custody on assault charges awaiting a March 7 court hearing.
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An earlier version of this report had an incorrect spelling of Dr. Bruce Goldfeder's name.
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Information from: The Palm Beach (Fla.) Post, http://www.pbpost.com
News from © The Associated Press, 2019