Iran Hostage Brain-Dead After Fight With Robber

John McKeel Jr., one of 52 Americans held hostage after the 1979 seizure of the U.S. Embassy in Iran, was gravely wounded Friday in a struggle with an armed robber, authorities said.

McKeel, 38, was shot twice in the head in the confrontation. He was rushed to Victor Valley Community Hospital in Victorville, where he was declared brain dead, said Police Sgt. Dave Gundersen.

A medical team was on its way to the hospital Friday to remove his organs for transplant, he said. Hospital spokesman John Lewis said the team will decide by early Saturday whether the organs are suitable for transplant. He said that McKeel remained on life-support systems late Friday.

A native of Balch Springs, Tex., McKeel was a Marine sergeant assigned to the U.S. Embassy in Tehran when it was overrun by Iranian militants in 1979. He and 51 other Americans were held hostage at the embassy for 444 days.

Gundersen said the incident began early Friday when a masked gunman accosted Vilawan Gorman, 36, as she walked from her car to her apartment at the Californian Apartments, a complex managed by McKeel’s wife, Trudy.

After surrendering about $30, Gorman fought with the robber, pulling off his mask. She told authorities that she recognized the gunman as a man who lived with a tenant in the complex, Gundersen said.

Gorman struggled free and ran to the McKeels’ apartment. The gunman followed her and demanded more money. After giving him about $30, McKeel and his wife struggled with the robber. The gunman fired four times during the fight, striking McKeel twice, Gundersen said.

Acting on Gorman’s identification, police arrested Anthony L. Maddox, 21, at an apartment he shared with his girlfriend, Gundersen said. Maddox was held without bail for investigation of murder and armed robbery.

The McKeels were married in 1985, said Debbie Paschal, a family friend and the assistant manager at the apartments. The couple moved to California from Texas and had lived in Adelanto for about 18 months.

McKeel helped his wife run the apartments, Paschal said.

“He’s a maintenance man, a landscaper, you name it,” Paschal said. “He does a little bit of everything.”

The couple had no children together. McKeel, however, had a son from a previous marriage and Trudy McKeel has two children from an earlier marriage, Paschal said.