Man tries to shoot surgeon

15 June 2007

GHENT – A surgeon in the parking lot of the University Hospital in Ghent on Tuesday morning was fired upon by a man who felt that “not a single doctor was willing or able” to help him with his ailment.

The 34-year-old surgeon from Knokke-Heist almost became the chance victim of the angry Bruges man as he walked through the hospital parking lot. He heard a loud bang and turned to see a man with something that looked like a gun covered by a newspaper. The van drove away at high speed but the doctor managed to note the license plate.

Police were able to track down the vehicle and arrest a 37-year-old man from Bruges who admitted that he just wanted to kill a doctor because doctors “couldn’t or wouldn’t help” him with an unspecified ailment.

He had specially rented the vehicle and purchased a rifle to carry out his absurd plan. The shooter says he chose his target by the white doctor’s coat he was wearing.

The man has been taken into custody and will be examined by a psychiatrist.

Subject: Belgian news