A murder-suicide at the the University of Kansas Hospital in Lawrence, Kansas, is now being attributed to a domestic dispute. 

Shots were initially fired around 11:30 p.m. The gunman shot the couple in a car, firing off what is thought to be about five rounds. After the initial firing, the couple then drove to the University of Kansas Hospital and the suspect followed. The suspect’s name has yet to be released. 

Upon arriving at the hospital entrance, the suspect caught up to the couple.  The male victim, identified as 28-year-old Dominic Garcia, got out of the car and ran into the front doors of the hospital. Garcia made it through the first set of doors, but didn’t make it through the inside doors as they were locked – which is standard procedure that late in the evening. Garcia was then trapped in the vestibule and shot at several times, resulting in critical injuries.

After severely injuring Garcia, the suspect then fatally shot himself. Ultimately, Garcia died overnight due to his injuries. The female victim, who was married to the suspect, was injured but is expected to be okay.

KCK police have reported that none of the Kansas University Hospital staff were harmed or in any direct danger. Fortunately, it was late and there were not many people around.

The hospital has taken the necessary procedures to prepare for occurrences like this one. The doors of the hospital were locked at 8 p.m, just like they are every evening, in order to protect the staff and patients inside.

Chris Rudder, the chief operating officer of the Kansas City division of Kansas University Hospital stated, “The University of Kansas Police Department and our emergency preparedness teams have drilled for several years with hospital staff to prepare us for this moment.”

An alert warning was set off to let staff know of the danger outside the building, and then it was updated as soon as police confirmed the death of the suspect and the absence of danger.

The shooting has alarmed many including students and faculty at Washburn who share the concern seeing as though the incident took place in a neighboring city.

Sarah Reineke, a freshman at Washburn, reports being shocked to hear of the occurrence. “I’ve never heard of anything like it. This is the first time in my memory that an attacker followed someone to the hospital to finish the job. It makes me wonder why he was so intent on killing him. It’s just a very strange situation.”

The concern doesn’t stop there. Marissa Wagner, freshman, says that the occurrence makes her feel uneasy. “It is crazy to think that something so violent like that happened so close to where we live. That is a little frightening to me,” said Wagner. 

Congresswoman-elect Sharice Davids, who takes office next month and will be representing the 3rd Congressional district of Kansas, expressed her unease on the topic.

In her campaign, Davids voiced support for new gun regulation measures for Kansas. Her take on gun control is not one that is highly favored in the state of Kansas.

She spoke about the recent incident in Lawrence. 

“I’m saddened by the incident … and am thinking of the victims and their loved ones,” Davids said. “My team has been in touch with local law enforcement and officials at the hospital to offer whatever support they need. We don’t know all the facts about what happened in this case yet, but we do know that gun violence and domestic violence are far too common and we need to do more to stop them.”

The entire community is shaken, condolences for the victims and their loved ones have been released by many.