A pharmacy technician showed up for work at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center on Thursday brandishing two handguns, killed his boss and another manager and then fatally shot himself, witnesses said.
The shootings just before noon sent panicked patients, visitors and hospital workers running for cover as the agitated gunman stalked the corridors in search of his victims.
Long Beach police officers called to the scene found two bodies, one inside the hospital and another outside the emergency room entrance, Police Chief Anthony Batts said.
The gunman was identified as Mario Ramirez, 50, of Alhambra, said Lisa Massacani, a Long Beach Police Department spokeswoman. The two victims were Hugo Bustamante, 46, of Cypress and Kelly Hales, 56, of Redondo Beach. Bustamante was pronounced dead at the scene and Hales after about six hours of emergency treatment.
According to witness accounts, Ramirez went first to the pharmacy, near the emergency room and outpatient area, and fatally shot Bustamante, firing at least twice at his face. He then went in search of Hales, whom he confronted outside the emergency room.
Laura Harris, 64, saw the second shooting as she drove by the emergency entrance en route to visit her hospitalized mother.
"I just saw the gun," she recalled later, her voice quivering.
The gunman shot Hales in the leg and, after he fell to the ground, "stood over him and shot him again," Harris said. Ramirez then put the gun to his own head but appeared to be wavering, she added.
"I don't know if he tried to shoot or if he was making up his mind," Harris said, describing how he began pacing and appeared frustrated.
"Then he put it to his head" and pulled the trigger, she said.
X-ray technician Ed Collins was stepping out of an elevator in the main lobby as that scene unfolded and a "code blue" alarm sounded, signaling a security emergency.
He witnessed an anguished exchange between a female co-worker and the gunman, with Ramirez telling her "Get out of here! Leave!" just before turning the gun on himself.
Inside the hospital, "people were frantic -- really scared," said Justin Hawkins, 18, who had been in the main lobby when he heard a shot. "I heard people screaming and yelling. Then a nurse came in and told everyone to hurry up and leave as soon as possible."
Doctors herded him and others into back rooms after making sure it was safe to do so, he said.
