Top surgeon shot dead; suspect allegedly made threats for a week, laid in wait for hours before attack – Rullie i

A Tennessee surgeon was killed Tuesday after being confronted by a patient said to have been making threats for a week.

Dr. Benjamin Mauck, 43, a top-rated orthopedic hand surgeon in Memphis, husband and father of two young children, was believed to be the only target when it was said he discovered the patient had been hiding in an exam room for hours waiting to attack.

The incident occurred around 2 p.m. Tuesday when at the Campbell Clinic in the town of Collierville, a suburb of Memphis.

“It’s bad. It’s horrific. It’s terrible,” Collierville Police Chief Dale Lane said Tuesday at a press conference. “So, this appears to be a one-on-one interaction that occurred within an exam room. This was not a mass shooting situation.”

Video shared by WREG showed as officers who had responded to the scene raced out of the clinic to pursue the suspect whom police reported had been taken into custody within minutes. “The suspect in this incident is in custody as we continue to investigate. This was a single shooting, not an active shooting incident.”

UPDATE: The suspect in this incident is in custody as we continue to investigate. This was a single shooting, not an active shooting incident.

— Collierville Police Department (@colliervillepd) July 11, 2023

Though the identity of the suspect was not confirmed, WREG detailed that the individual was a patient and a witness had told the outlet the person “…had been threatening someone at the clinic for the past week…”

Law enforcement officers reiterated that the incident was not a mass shooting or active shooter incident and credited clinic members’ participation in a training program for such an event for the quick response. Lane made reference to an incident that had taken place at a Kroger supermarket in Collierville in 2021 where more than a dozen victims were injured and a mother of three had been killed.

New details after TN supermarket shooting rampage leaves mom of 3 dead, more than a dozen injured https://t.co/Vp5i2jm6lP pic.twitter.com/ccuZp4h1Ji

— BizPac Review (@BIZPACReview) September 24, 2021

That tragedy led to the promotion of active shooter training, considered pivotal at the clinic. Despite those positives to an otherwise terrible incident, Tennessee state Sen. Raumesh Akbari (D) criticized legislation that didn’t meet “common sense” goals.

“Tragedies like this underscore the urgent need for common sense — like reinstating background checks and gun licenses, and establishing new reforms like an order of protection so police can remove firearms from a person who is threatening others,” she said in a statement.

In their own statement, the Campbell Clinic honored Mauck and said in part, “We are shocked and heartbroken to confirm the incident resulted in the tragic loss of one of our highly respected and beloved physicians, Dr. Ben Mauck. We ask that you please lift his family in prayer.”

To aid in the investigation and see to the needs of staff, they announced the closure of all their locations for Wednesday and added, “Our priorities remain Faith, Family and Patient Care. At this time, we ask for your prayers for the entire Campbell Clinic family, as well as for the privacy of Dr. Mauck’s family.”

The identity of the suspect and a possible motive remained unstated by police at the time of this post.

Staff Writer–Writers and editors can be contacted at [email protected] with feedback, tips, or corrections.

Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn’t researching current events and their impacts, you’ll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.

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