Canadian doctor among the wounded in New York City hospital shooting

29-year-old Justin Timperio of St. Catharines, Ont., is one of six people injured after a former employee of the hospital opened fire on Friday, killing one doctor. (Photo: Justin Timperio/Soundcloud)

ST. CATHARINES, Ont.—A Canadian doctor was among the wounded after the shooting at Bronx-Lebanon Hospital in New York City last week.

29-year-old Justin Timperio of St. Catharines, Ont., is one of six people injured after a former employee of the hospital opened fire on Friday, killing one doctor.

Timperio’s father, Luciano Timperio, says his son was shot “between six and nine times,” resulting in damage to his liver and other internal organs.

Timperio said his son’s condition has stabilized enough that he can receive an operation on Monday.

His father said Justin is heavily sedated and can’t speak due to a tube in his throat to aid his breathing.

The younger Timperio is a graduate of Brock University in St. Catharines and of the American University of the Caribbean. His father said he started working at Bronx-Lebanon about three years ago, for the clinical component of his medical training. He was then accepted to the hospital’s family residency medical program, where he has worked for the last year.

“He was just finishing up, he was going to start second year,” his father said. “Well, he was supposed to start second year.”

Luciano also expressed regret at the lack of opportunities in Canada for prospective medical students like his son. “It’s a shame that our local boys and girls have to go far away to be trained,” he said.

Many of the other victims of Friday’s shooting were also doctors at the hospital.

The gunman, Dr. Henry Bello, left Bronx-Lebanon in 2015 due to allegations of sexual harassment.

He returned Friday with an assault rifle hidden under a lab coat and shot seven people, killing one woman, before fatally shooting himself.