CINCINNATI (AP) — A man accused of a shooting at a veterans hospital said he intended to intimidate former co-workers he believed were having inappropriate relationships with his wife and daughter, according to court documents.
One person was shot in the ankle when Neil Moore’s gun went off in a hospital break room, authorities said.
Moore, 59, of Trotwood, was charged Tuesday in Dayton with single counts of assault with a dangerous weapon and use of a deadly weapon during the commission of a violent crime. It was not immediately known whether he had an attorney.
Investigators said Moore entered a room where several people were playing cards and pointed a revolver at them saying something like, “Don’t mess with my family.”
Authorities said one of the card game participants lunged at Moore, knocking his .38-caliber revolver. The gun went off at least three times, striking another man in the lower leg, investigators said.
Moore then went to an elevator, where he pointed the revolver at another person before fleeing the building, according to court documents.
Moore then drove his pickup truck to his sister’s Trotwood home and she drove him to a hospital in Dayton for medical evaluation, authorities said. Moore was taken into custody at the hospital.
Moore, a former employee at the VA hospital, told police that he regularly participated in a card game with co-workers when he worked there. He said he went to the hospital Monday intending to brandish the handgun to intimidate two former co-workers he believed were involved in relationships with his wife and daughter, who reportedly still work at the hospital, authorities said.
He intended to “hold the ex-co-workers at gunpoint while he punched them with his right hand,” according to court documents.
Police identified the wounded man as Paul Burnside, 61, a housekeeping aide.
Burnside’s daughter, Shirneal Burnside, 16, said outside his house Monday that her sister called to tell her about the shooting, but she had few details.
“It’s just crazy that people do such things,” she said. Shirneal Burnside would not provide a phone number for her or her father and there was no phone listing immediately available Tuesday.
Moore’s sister-in-law, Stephanie Brooks, told reporters outside the family’s home in the Dayton suburb of Trotwood on Monday that the family was devastated. “We’re all confused and we’re trying to find out what has happened,” she said.
The hospital complex has beds for about 450 people and provides veterans with medical, mental health and nursing home care. It doesn’t have metal detectors at its entrances, but it does have its own security force.
Each of the counts against Moore carries a maximum sentence of 10 years and a possible fine of up to $250,000.