Doctor fatally shot near Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach
A doctor was shot and killed Monday in a building near Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach, police said.
Multiple people have identified the victim as a doctor at Orange Coast Urology, but police have not released the victim’s name pending notification of relatives. An outgoing phone message said the office had to close Monday because of an emergency.
Workers in the building said the shooting occurred in the doctor’s exam room.
Newport Beach Police Department Deputy Chief David McGill confirmed that the slain man was a doctor but had no other details about him or a suspect who was taken into custody without incident at the scene, which was on the second floor of an office building at 520 Superior Ave.
“I sit right at the front desk. I would have caught the first bullet,” said Becky Calderwood, who works two doors down from the office where the shooting occurred. “This is nuts. People are just shooting everyone all the time.”
Calderwood said the gunman was a 70-year-old patient. Shortly after the shooting, police led a handcuffed older man wearing a baseball cap out of the building.
Authorities received a call about 2:45 p.m. that six or seven shots had been fired, according to police spokeswoman Kathy Lowe.
“We won’t know a motive until our detectives have a chance to interview the suspect later” Monday night, Lowe said.
A source with knowledge of the shooting said the building was a medical office affiliated with Hoag. The shooting occurred in an office portion of the building, Lowe said.
Kristin Crotty works directly above the office. She said she heard gunshots but “blew it off as construction.”
She said what she heard sounded like a nail gun and she didn’t know what was going on until she called building services and was told to lock her door.
A sign outside says the three-story medical building houses Hoag outpatient services and lists the Allen Diabetes Center, physicians’ offices and a CHOC diabetes center as occupants.
Times staff writers Rick Rojas and Sam Quinones contributed to this report.
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