Doctors are known for saving lives, but rarely do they do it with a gun. That’s exactly what happened yesterday near Philadelphia when a psychiatrist returned fire on a patient who had shot him in the head and had fatally shot a caseworker in Yeadon, Pa., reports the Philadelphia Daily News. “Without a doubt, I believe the doctor saved lives,” Yeadon Police Chief Donald Molineux said. “If he [the doctor] wasn’t armed . . . this guy could have went out in the hallway and just walked down the offices until he ran out of ammunition.”
The patient, Richard Plotts, 49, was brought to the center yesterday afternoon by his caseworker, Theresa Hunt, 53. Plotts, Hunt and the psychiatrist, Dr. Lee Silverman, met about 2 p.m. A worker in a nearby office heard them arguing, opened the door and saw Plotts pointing a gun at Silverman’s head. That staffer quickly and quietly shut the door and called police. Moments later, shots rang out. A caseworker and a psychiatrist forced their way into the office and wrestled Plotts to the floor in the hallway, initially unaware that he was still armed. They disarmed Plotts and secured his weapon.