The doctor with terminal cancer who killed a pediatrician before committing suicide at a medical office in Austin was previously charged with assaulting his ex-wife – whom he derided as an “unfortunate” person, lawsuits show.
Dr. Bharat Narumanchi, who police say was held hostage before he killed 43-year-old Dr. , the Austin American-Statesman reported.
Narumanchi, 43, described his ex-wife in a court as an “unfortunate person from childhood”, claiming that she only married him to obtain US citizenship that “eluded her while living in the US as a student”, the newspaper reported.
Court records cited by KXAN show that Narumanchi filed for divorce in 2012. owners, the station reported.
Austin Police Department Lieutenant Jeff Greenwalt said investigators believe the terminal cancer diagnosis “likely played a large role” in the taking of four hostages who either escaped or were released before police arrived.
Hostages told the Statesman-America that Narumanchi burst into office at about 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday with two duffel bags, a pistol and a shotgun.
Meanwhile, Narumanchi’s relatives told investigators that they had begun to inquire about hospice care for the doctor after he determined that he had only “weeks” left to live. Police did not specify what type of cancer he had, KXAN reported.
Public records cited by the Statesman-American show that Narumanchi lived in several states. He recently practiced at Providence Health Services in Southern California and was also licensed as a physician in Oklahoma, Connecticut, Wisconsin and Florida, labor records show.
After graduating from St. George’s University School of Medicine in Grenada in 2008, Narumanchi worked for 18 months at St. Vincent’s Medical Center in Manhattan before being fired in December 2009, KXAN reported.
Narumanchi later filed a complaint about his dismissal and subsequently rejected a proposed settlement, federal court reports show.
The doctor later filed a claim for $ 24,700 in bankruptcy court when the now-defunct hospital filed Chapter 11 in 2010, but it was later revised to just $ 1,524, the data shows.
In 2012, Narumanchi was licensed “Physician and Surgeon A” to practice medicine in California, where it was valid through August 2022, KXAN reported.
It remains unclear why Narumanchi targeted the hospital, even though he was turned down weeks ago for a volunteer position at the facility, researchers said. An employee told the Statesman-American that Narumanchi had not met Dodson during that visit.
“We don’t know if that’s why he decided to come back or if he had any other involvement,” Greenwalt said Wednesday.
Narumanchi’s parents said in a statement Wednesday that they are working with investigators but do not “understand” what motivated their son to kill.
“The consequences of this action will remain with us forever, and we can only hope that faith, spiritual healing, and God’s light will guide us through the darkness of this moment,” the statement said.
