Brigham And Women's Hospital Mourns Murdered Surgeon
BOSTON (CBS/AP) — Colleagues of a cardiac surgeon who was shot and killed at Brigham and Women's Hospital on Tuesday are mourning his death and reflecting on a doctor who they said they admired professionally and personally.
Dr. Michael Davidson, director of endovascular cardiac surgery, died after being shot twice around 11 a.m. by a man who then killed himself.
Read: Former Patient Says Slain Doctor 'Could Have Helped So Many Others'
Hospital officials confirmed at a press conference Wednesday that Davidson was a father of a 9-year-old girl, a 7-year-old girl and a 2-year-old son. And his wife Terri Halperin, who is also a physician, is seven months pregnant.
Slain Doctor Was 'Almost Always The Smartest Man In The Room'
"I guess I could best say that if you could pick a father, you would pick Mike," said Dr. Andrew C. Eisenhauer, an interventional cardiologist at the hospital.
Eisenhauer and three other of Davidson's colleagues shared personal and professional memories about Davidson. Eisenhauer said that more often than not, Davidson was the smartest person in whatever room he was in.
"You should all be assured that Michael Davidson was one of the kindest and best physicians and men that ever walked on this earth," Eisenhauer said. "We knew that, his patients knew that and his family knew that."
Davidson is credited with helping build a new program to take care of complex heart patients. His colleagues think of him as an innovator in the operating room and in the studio.
He was the lead guitarist in the doctor-band "Off Label." They practiced every week in Dr. Shira Doron's basement.
"He worked really hard and he cared so much about his patients," said Doron. "Just radiate joy, that what he radiates to us."
Daniel Wiener, a thoracic surgeon at the hospital, was in the band with Davidson and Pinak Shah, the hospital's interim director of the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory.
Wiener said Davidson became his mentor when he began his training in 2009.
"Mike was an incredible friend, an incredible father, husband, and an amazing lead guitarist. And I will miss him a lot," Wiener said.
Police said Stephen Pasceri, 55, entered the hospital Tuesday morning and specifically requested the doctor.
"Dr. Davidson was a wonderful and inspiring cardiac surgeon who devoted his career to saving lives and improving the quality of life of every patient he cared for," said a statement issued by the hospital, which is affiliated with Harvard Medical School. "It is truly devastating that his own life was taken in this horrible manner."
Pasceri, of Millbury, shot the doctor twice just outside an examination room on the second floor of the Carl J. and Ruth Shapiro Cardiovascular Center; he then turned the gun on himself, police said.
Boston Police Commissioner William Evans said officers conducting a room-by-room search found the gunman dead in an exam room with the weapon.
Police said Pasceri wasn't a patient of the doctor's and they didn't specify a motive for the shootings.
The flag outside of the Francis Street entrance was lowered to half mast Wednesday morning in honor of Davidson. Dozens of colleagues stood out in the cold to pay tribute to him and lay flowers in a brief ceremony.
Boston Mayor Marty Walsh said he was "deeply saddened" by Davidson's death. "This tragedy is the result of a senseless act of violence that has no place in our City," he said in a statement early Wednesday.
Evans said earlier Tuesday that police were talking to witnesses, "but it's leading us to believe there was something in the past that upset this guy, that made him go in and look for this particular doctor."
Police and hospital officials commended the fast response by police and hospital staff, who they said had been trained to respond to an "active shooter" situation.
Evans said police were on the scene within seconds after getting the first calls of shots fired and had the area secured within 15 minutes.
Betsy Nabel, the hospital's president, said Brigham and Women's will evaluate its safety protocols. She said there have been no discussions about installing metal detectors, which none of the city's hospitals have.
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