Justin Timperio of St. Catharines, Ont., is in hospital after being shot several times by a former employee who entered Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Friday and opened fire.
His father, Luciano Timperio, says his son is in stable condition and will undergo surgery tomorrow.
‘He’s expected to make it I think, I hope’
– Justin Timoerio’s father
Timperio’s son, who is a medical resident at the hospital, has several abdominal injuries.
“He’s expected to make it. I think, I hope. I guess I shouldn’t be saying that cause I’m not the doctor treating him, but he is stable,” said Timperio, a dental surgeon in St. Catharines.
Disgruntled ex-employee
The 29-year-old is one of six people injured in Friday’s shooting at Bronx Lebanon Hospital. Dr. Tracy Sin-Yee Tam, a family medicine doctor, was killed.
Law enforcement officials identified the shooter as Dr. Henry Bello, 45, who was described on the hospital website as a family medicine physician. Officials said Bello used an AR-15 assault rifle in the attack on the 16th and 17th floors.
He later fatally shot himself after trying to set himself on fire.
Bello was allowed to resign from the hospital in 2015 amid sexual harassment allegations, according to two law enforcement officials. The officials didn’t know the details of the allegations.
Medical resident in U.S.
Justin Timperio has been a medical resident at Bronx Lebanon Hospital for a year, where he also did his clinical medicine clerkship.
“He didn’t get in here, in Ontario, like a million other kids,” said his father of his son’s medical studies, which he completed at American University of the Caribbean. He had previously studied in his hometown of St. Catharines, attending Brock University.
“It would have been nice to go to a Canadian medical school, but they’re hard to get into and there aren’t enough spots for the number of kids who want to get into those spots.”
‘I was devastated’
After hours of worry, the worst was confirmed — Timperio was told by a classmate of his sons’ that Justin had in fact been injured.
“What goes through a parent’s mind when they’re about to lose a child? I was devastated,” said Timperio.
He, Justin’s mother, and two others got on the first plane they could.
Officials are gathered outside Bronx Lebanon Hospital Center after reports of a shooting, Friday, June 30, 2017, in New York. (Julio Cortez/Associated Press)
“We didn’t know if he was going to make it at that time,” said Timperio.
When they arrived, he was intubated and heavily sedated. According to his father, he remains sedated.
Global Affairs Canada spokesperson, John Babcock told CBC News consular officials in New York had confirmed that a Canadian was injured at the Bronx-Lebanon Hospital.
“Our thoughts and deepest sympathies are with those affected by the shooting at the Bronx-Lebanon Hospital in New York,” said Babcock.
“Global Affairs Canada is reaching out to the individual and the family of the affected Canadian and stands ready to provide consular assistance.”
Timperio, who is back in Canada, plans to head back to the U.S. to visit his son.
