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Gunman kills mother and himself
Source: Agencies |
September 18, 2010, Saturday
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Paul Warren Pardus listened as a Johns Hopkins Hospital surgeon updated him on the condition of his elderly mother who likely would never walk again. Overwhelmed, he pulled a gun from his waistband, wounded the doctor, then barricaded himself in his 84-year-old mother's hospital room before killing her and himself, authorities said.
"I guess he just couldn't bear to see her the way she was," said Pardus' brother Alvin Gibson.
The doctor, identified by colleagues as orthopedic surgeon David B. Cohen, was shot in the abdomen and collapsed on Thursday afternoon outside the eighth-floor room where Pardus' mother was being treated. He was expected to survive.
Jean Davis was being crippled by arthritis and rheumatism and had surgery last week at the world-renowned cancer hospital in the US, but it didn't go well, said Gibson of Remington, Virginia. It was unclear what sort of operation was performed.
"I guess because he thought my mom was suffering because the surgery wasn't successful and she probably wouldn't be able to walk again," Gibson said about a possible reason for his brother's actions.
"She was a dear, sweet lady. She just wanted to walk around like she did when she was younger."
Pardus holed up in the room in a more than two-hour standoff that led authorities to lock down a small section of the Nelson Building while allowing the rest of the sprawling red-brick medical complex -- a cluster of hospital, research and education buildings -- to remain open.
When officers made their way into the room, they found Pardus and his mother shot to death, he on the floor, she in her bed.
Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III said Pardus had been listening to the surgeon around midday when he "became emotionally distraught and reacted ... and was overwhelmed by the news of his mother's condition."
Gibson said he learned of their deaths while watching coverage of the shooting at a friend's house and "was really torn up inside."
Pardus was from Arlington, Virginia, and had a handgun permit in that state, police said. He was initially identified as Warren Davis, but police later changed that. Gibson said his brother had legally changed his name from Davis to Pardus.
Pardus had worked as a driver for MetroAccess, which provides rides for disabled passengers in the Washington, D.C., region, but Diamond Transportation, the sub-contractor, said he had been on leave since June.
"I guess he just couldn't bear to see her the way she was," said Pardus' brother Alvin Gibson.
The doctor, identified by colleagues as orthopedic surgeon David B. Cohen, was shot in the abdomen and collapsed on Thursday afternoon outside the eighth-floor room where Pardus' mother was being treated. He was expected to survive.
Jean Davis was being crippled by arthritis and rheumatism and had surgery last week at the world-renowned cancer hospital in the US, but it didn't go well, said Gibson of Remington, Virginia. It was unclear what sort of operation was performed.
"I guess because he thought my mom was suffering because the surgery wasn't successful and she probably wouldn't be able to walk again," Gibson said about a possible reason for his brother's actions.
"She was a dear, sweet lady. She just wanted to walk around like she did when she was younger."
Pardus holed up in the room in a more than two-hour standoff that led authorities to lock down a small section of the Nelson Building while allowing the rest of the sprawling red-brick medical complex -- a cluster of hospital, research and education buildings -- to remain open.
When officers made their way into the room, they found Pardus and his mother shot to death, he on the floor, she in her bed.
Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III said Pardus had been listening to the surgeon around midday when he "became emotionally distraught and reacted ... and was overwhelmed by the news of his mother's condition."
Gibson said he learned of their deaths while watching coverage of the shooting at a friend's house and "was really torn up inside."
Pardus was from Arlington, Virginia, and had a handgun permit in that state, police said. He was initially identified as Warren Davis, but police later changed that. Gibson said his brother had legally changed his name from Davis to Pardus.
Pardus had worked as a driver for MetroAccess, which provides rides for disabled passengers in the Washington, D.C., region, but Diamond Transportation, the sub-contractor, said he had been on leave since June.
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