Police: Patient Shot, Killed Surgeon in Exam Room

Police say a patient fatally shot an orthopedic surgeon in an exam room at a Tennessee clinic on Tuesday. Dr. Benjamin Mauck, a husband and father of two young children, was shot dead around 2pm in what police described as a targeted "one-on-one interaction" at Campbell Clinic Orthopedics in Collierville, west of Memphis, per the New York Post. "It's bad, it's horrific, it's terrible," Collierville Police Chief Dale Lane said at a Tuesday press conference, per WREG. The outlet obtained video showing the police response inside the clinic. In it, a witness tells police that a man with a pistol ran out of a room. Officers then exit the building at a sprint. Lane said the shooter was detained "without incident" within five minutes, per NBC News.

The unidentified male found outside with a gun "on his person" had been at the clinic for several hours, according to Lane, though the reasons for that are unclear. A person at the scene told WREG that the suspect had been threatening Mauck for at least a week. At the press conference, Lane said police were unaware of any alleged threats. Mauck, a specialist in elbow, hand, and wrist surgery who also held the role of director of the Congenital Hand Deformities Clinic at Le Bonheur Children's Hospital, was named one of the "2023 Top Doctors" in Memphis by Memphis Magazine only days prior. He had a 4.9 rating from patients at the clinic where he'd worked for almost 11 years, per NBC.

"We are shocked and heartbroken to confirm the incident resulted in the tragic loss of one of our highly respected and beloved physicians," said clinic rep Irina Ollar. Dr. Trey Eubanks, interim president and surgeon-in-chief at Le Bonheur, said Mauck was "a beloved colleague and a dedicated physician" and his death is "an unthinkable tragedy." In a statement, Tennessee Senate Minority Leader Raumesh Akbari, a Democrat, said "tragedies like this underscore the urgent need for common sense—like reinstating background checks and gun licenses, and establishing new reforms like an order of protection so police can remove firearms from a person who is threatening others." (More shooting death stories.)