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BOSTON -- A man stabbed a female doctor while being treated at a psychiatric office and then was fatally shot by an off-duty security guard Oct. 27, police said.
The incident happened just after 2 p.m. on the fifth floor of the Massachusetts General Hospital Bipolar Clinic & Research Program at 50 Staniford Street.
According to Boston Police, psychiatric patient Jay Carciero, 37, of Reading, attacked his female physician, identified by hospital officials as Dr. Astrid Desrosiers, with a knife.
The off-duty security guard, Paul Langone, told the patient to drop the knife. When he did not comply, he shot him.
Police said Carciero died of the gunshot wounds. Officials said he was shot twice in the side and once in the head.
Desrosiers is listed in serious, but stable condition.
Police told 7News that Desrosiers was stabbed so many times, that there weren't many areas on the doctor's body that were untouched.
"During the course of the stabbing incident, an off-duty security officer, who was armed, interceded. He produced weapon and ordered the suspect to drop the knife, and when the suspect did not comply he shot the suspect," said Commissioner Ed Davis, of the Boston Police Police Department.
The security guard was not affiliated with the hospital and just happened to be on the fifth-floor of the building where the attack occurred, according to Bonnie Michelman, the hospital's security director.
Michelman referred to Langone's actions as "heroic" and said that they were happy he was there.
The victim also works as an instructor in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and is affiliated with the Haitian Mental Health Program.
"A caring and dedicated professional, Dr. Desrosiers has spent her career providing extraordinary care and treatment to patients who are among the most vulnerable and those with the most severe psychiatric disorders. Her commitment, compassion and courage are an inspiration to all of us. The entire MGH family is pulling together for her speedy recovery," Mass. General said in a statement Tuesday night.
Security locked down the building, notifying employees and patients inside they could not immediately leave. Streets also were shut down nearby for almost an hour. All were allowed back in when authorities deemed the situation safe.
Carciero's family said they are not in a position to comment.
Beth Haller, Ph.D., is Co-Director of the Global Alliance for Disability in Media and Entertainment (www.gadim.org). A former print journalist, she is a member of the Advisory Board for the National Center on Disability and Journalism (https://ncdj.org/). Haller is Professor Emerita in the Department of Mass Communication at Towson University in Maryland, USA. Haller is co-editor of the 2020 "Routledge Companion to Disability and Media" (with Gerard Goggin of University of Sydney & Katie Ellis of Curtin University, Australia). She is author of "Representing Disability in an Ableist World: Essays on Mass Media" (Advocado Press, 2010) and the author/editor of Byline of Hope: Collected Newspaper and Magazine Writing of Helen Keller (Advocado Press, 2015). She has been researching disability representation in mass media for 30+ years. She is adjunct faculty in the Disability Studies programs at the City University of New York (CUNY) and the University of Texas-Arlington.
From WHDH-TV in Boston:
