Source: Doctor who shot 7 in city hospital bought rifle legally
Dr. Henry Bello, a former Bronx Lebanon Hospital employee, killed one person and wounded six others at the hospital before killing himself on June 30, 2017. Credit: Facebook
The assault rifle a doctor used in a shooting Friday at Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center appears to have been legally purchased at an upstate gun store on June 20, according to a high-ranking law enforcement source.
The source said the store is located in Schenectady. It was identified in media reports as Upstate Guns and Ammo. The store’s owner did not respond to requests for comment on Sunday night.
Dr. Henry Bello opened fire with an assault rifle hidden under a white lab coat on Friday afternoon at a 16th floor nurses’ station, a senior NYPD official said. Bello went up to the 17th floor, where he killed a young family medicine doctor who was filling in for another doctor, and wounded six others, including physicians, medical students and a patient.
He later shot himself in the chest after trying to set himself on fire using a container of flammable liquid.
The NYPD identified the doctor who was killed as Tracy Sin-Yee Tam, 32, of Jamaica, Queens.
In 2015, Bronx-Lebanon threatened to fire Bello over sexual harassment allegations if he didn’t quit instead, authorities said. A hospital spokesman said nothing had indicated Bello would resort to violence.
In 2014, Bello was charged with sexual abuse and unlawful imprisonment, both felonies, and misdemeanor unlawful imprisonment, according to online court records. He pleaded guilty only to the misdemeanor and was sentenced to 28 hours of community service, records show.
Anthony M. DeStefano has been a reporter for Newsday since 1986 and covers law enforcement, criminal justice and legal affairs from its New York City offices.
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