Woman Kills Therapist, Herself

A woman opened fire in a medical office Wednesday, killing her therapist and then fatally shooting herself, police said.

Police found the bodies in a hallway of the second-floor office building about 8 p.m., San Diego homicide Sgt. Bob Lopez said. Identities were not released pending notification of relatives.

Investigators were unsure what caused the 58-year-old patient to open fire at about 5:30 p.m.

Someone placed an emergency call to San Diego police to report shots fired at a counseling center in the Hillcrest neighborhood near downtown, police spokesman Dave Cohen said.

When an officer arrived, shots were still being fired. He helped two men escape through a first-floor office by breaking a window.

SWAT officers, who fired tear gas canisters into the building about 6 p.m., slowly made their way through the structure. They reached the second floor just after 8 p.m., Cohen said. It was there that officers found the bodies.

The patient’s body was lying face down in the hallway. Lopez said the woman was apparently lying on top of the weapon, so police were not immediately sure what type of gun was used.

Police were waiting late Wednesday for the medical examiner to arrive before moving the bodies.