Larry Pickens, left, and Dr. Benjamin Mauck. (Collierville Police Department; Campbell Clinic)
A surgeon in Tennessee was shot and killed on Tuesday afternoon while inside the building where he practiced his profession, and police say the killer was a patient at the doctor’s office “for several hours” before the slaying.
Larry Pickens, 29, stands accused of one count each of murder in the first degree and aggravated assault for the death of Dr. Benjamin Mauck, 43, an orthopedic surgeon who was killed in an exam room at Campbell Clinic Orthopedics in Collierville, about 30 miles east of Memphis.
The incident occurred just after 2 p.m. on July 11. Mauck was found with gunshot wounds to his neck, chest, and abdomen, according to a police report obtained by Memphis-based NBC affiliate WMC.
Law enforcement said the clinic was crowded when the inexplicable violence broke out.
“There were many patients that were there, employees,” Collierville Police Chief Dale Lane said at a press conference on Tuesday.
“This appears to be a one-on-one interaction,” the police chief continued, stressing that this was not a mass shooting-like incident.
In a press release, the Collierville Police Department said they had never arrested Pickens, from Memphis, before but were checking with other agencies to see if he has a criminal record.
Pickens ran from the clinic after the shooting, police said. He was allegedly apprehended about five minutes after law enforcement arrived, Lane said. Officers arrived at the clinic within three minutes of the first 911 call.
He was apprehended with the handgun used to kill Mauck in his possession, though the gun was not in his hand at the time of his arrest, Lane clarified at the press conference. The police report says he was arrested on Poplar Avenue with his un-chambered pistol and two empty magazines in a backpack.
“We’re talking about a guy that ran from a shooting scene, and he’s in custody within five minutes, without additional loss of life,” the police chief said.
An unidentified witness told local CBS affiliate WREG that the shooter had threatened Mauck for a week before the shooting.
No details about those alleged threats have been made public. During the Tuesday press conference, Lane said he was unaware of such claims.
Law enforcement was initially reticent to release information about the victim, citing the interests of his surviving family and co-workers.
“It’s bad. It’s horrific. It’s terrible, and our thoughts and prayers are with the family,” the police chief said. “We have made notification to them. We are going to continue to pray for them.”
Dr. Mauck was identified by his employers a short time after he died.
“Earlier today, we experienced a single shooter event inside our Collierville clinic,” Campbell Clinic said in a statement released after the shooting. “We are shocked and heartbroken to confirm the incident resulted in the tragic loss of one of our highly respected and beloved physicians, Dr. Ben Mauck. We ask that you please lift his family in prayer.”
Mauck also worked as a surgeon at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital in downtown Memphis.
“Ben was a friend to so many of us – a respected member of our Le Bonheur family, a beloved colleague and a dedicated physician to so many patients,” the hospital’s surgeon-in-chief, Dr. Trey Eubanks, said. “We already miss him. His death is an unthinkable tragedy, and I am at a loss at what to say. I am so sorry to those who loved and knew him, for those who worked alongside him every day.”
According to his biography, the doctor graduated from Lambuth University and the University of Tennessee-Memphis. He did his residency at the University of Tennessee’s Campbell Clinic and was a fellow in hand medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio.
“We are sad to share with you the passing of one of our members, Benjamin Mauck, MD,” the Memphis Medical Society said in a statement. “Ben was a devoted husband, father, brother, son, and physician colleague. He was a highly skilled hand, wrist, and elbow surgeon. His untimely death is a devastating loss for our healthcare community, and we honor and appreciate his service to the patients of Shelby County.”
The suspect is being detained on $1.2 million bond. He is slated to appear in court on Thursday.
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