W. Bahr el Ghazal calm after doctor dies in hospital shooting

May 14, 2013 (JUBA) – A soldier in South Sudan’s Western Bahr el Ghazal state opened fire at Wau Teaching Hospital on Monday afternoon, killing a medical practitioner and wounding three others.

Wau’s Municipal Mayor, Michael Gebba, said the attacker was the husband of a woman believed to have died at the hospital after an operation. The man, he revealed, last week opened a case at Wau Police station against the hospital.

The case is still under investigation.

Gebba said the killer surrendered himself to the security after the shooting, adding that the situation was under control, while calling on citizens to remain calm.

Marcello Gabriel, the hospital’s medical director, said the woman, who died last week, was referred for an emergency operation due to delivery complications.

He said the woman, who had a miscarriage, passed away due to heavy bleeding.

Those wounded included assistant hospital administrator and a nurse, the local police department told Sudan Tribune on Monday.

“Many of the victims were sprayed by the shots of the bullets. At the moment there is only one death and three people wounded but they are in stable condition. They are not life-threatening injuries”, a police officer from the criminal investigation department who went to the scene said on Monday.

The officer, who did not want to be named, said the shooting was due to a personal tragedy and there was “no reason to believe it was an act of terror, just an act of anger”.

“The gunman had opened fire because he believed his wife was allowed to die at the hospital during operation. He claimed that his wife was left in the operation room at the time the doctors should have attended to her. This is what we have gathered so far but situation has returned to normal. He surrendered himself to the police and he has been arrested”, the officer said.

A source within the hospital said the gunman climbed over the fence and entered through the window into the operation theatre and opened fire against the three personnel. He said services at hospital were interrupted for the whole day following the incident.

Eyewitnesses told Sudan Tribune on Monday that they saw people running away from the hospital as shots rang out from an automatic gun.

“I was coming from the market to the state secretariat when I saw people running away from the area close to the hospital”, an eyewitness said.

Another police officer downplayed the “unusual circumstance” magnitude of the incident, which he said was immediately brought under control when the bereaved soldier surrendered to the police.

Primary school students, Garang Mawien and Mawien Dut, said they carefully approached those who remained on the ground after the firing stopped to see if anyone was wounded.

“I just wanted to get out of there as soon as possible, but we didn’t know if the shooter was still around until when I came home that I learned from my father that the shooter had surrendered himself. My father and I missed ourselves on the way. He ran to the school for us and [we] run away on our own with my friends and other siblings,” said Dut.

“We are all safe. None of us is hurt”, he added.

Michael Sabit, another eyewitness, described the incident as tragic for hospital staff.

He said the shooting was a warning to the state government to improve security at the hospital.

“The incident showed that more needed to be done to address lawlessness and crime in general in South Sudan and to nurture a culture of peace and understanding,” said Sabit.

The incident comes less than six months after police opened fire on protesters opposing the decision to transfer Wau county headquarters to Bagari area. More than 20 people died and several others were wounded.

(ST)