Victim in Calif. shooting was suspect's doctor

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. -- A retired barber accused of fatally shooting a urologist in an exam room was a patient of the victim and brought the gun to his medical appointment, prosecutors said yesterday.

Stanwood Fred Elkus, 75, was charged with murder in the Monday attack that killed Dr. Ronald Gilbert, 52, who was shot multiple times in the upper body at his office in this affluent city in Orange County.

Elkus, of Lake Elsinore, had an appointment with Gilbert and waited in the exam room with a handgun before opening fire when the doctor walked in, prosecutors said. He then gave the gun to another staff member at the medical office and was arrested quietly, authorities said.

Elkus had long suffered from prostate problems and was upset about his incontinence after a recent surgery, his neighbors said. It wasn't clear whether it was Gilbert who performed the surgery or how long he had treated him.

Elkus' health problems left him running for the bathroom constantly, sometimes in mid-conversation, neighbors said. Said Miguel Soto, who lives across the street: "He said, 'I had surgery and now I am worse than before the surgery.' " -- AP