Doctor kills pediatrician, shoots self in hostage standoff in Central Austin, police say
A community mourns
12:30 p.m. update: The pediatric offices at Children's Medical Group in Central Austin were quiet on Wednesday.
Residents walked their dogs. Vehicles could be heard whirring past on MoPac Boulevard (Loop 1) and a crosswalk signal beeped every now and then.
If one didn’t know what happened at the office on Tuesday night, they may not have noticed a lone bundle of yellow flowers sitting atop the building’s sign near 35th Street before 9 a.m.
Austin police on Wednesday confirmed that Dr. Lindley Dodson, a pediatrician with Children's Medical Group in Central Austin, was killed after she and other employees in the office were held captive by another doctor, Bharat Narumanchi.
One of the office’s windows was boarded up and a neon orange police sticker sealed part of the front door off. It was left there by Austin police. A sliver of police tape was visible on the side of the office.
As the morning continued, the number of flowers left grew. Pops of pink, orange, yellow, red and white flowers soon dotted the office sign. A pair left flowers on the sign and stood for a moment. They held each other and cried.
A small group stood together in the parking lot. Another person, a parent of a patient of the practice, said they thought the city should be shut down in light of what happened.
Soon, someone wrote a message outside the front door. In white sidewalk chalk, it read: “We love you.”
Placing bright pink flowers in front of the office sign was 4-year-old June, who had come to the office with her mother, Angelica Connelly.
Connelly, who lives in a neighborhood nearby, said that while neither of her children were patients, they interact with people every day who were.
“I took my kids to school today and thought about how she would have done the same,” Connelly said of Dodson.
Connelly first heard about the incident around 5 p.m. on Tuesday when people were discussing traffic that had built up in the area.
“Then, by 8 p.m., it was more about, ‘Oh it’s a pediatrician.’ And that’s when it changed for everyone. It wasn’t just a random thing in the news,” Connelly said.
“This is going to be with us forever,” she said.
Austin police ID pediatrician Lindley Dodson as victim of hostage standoff
10:45 a.m.: Austin police have identified 43-year-old Katherine Lindley Dodson, a pediatrician with Children's Medical Group in Central Austin, and another pediatrician, Bharat Narumanchi, as the two people found dead after a hostage standoff at the CMG offices Tuesday night.
Police on Wednesday said they responded to reports Tuesday afternoon that Narumanchi had entered the medical offices with a gun and was holding hostages inside.
"Several hostages initially escaped and others were later allowed to leave with the exception of Dr. Katherine Dodson," police said in a written statement.
According to some of the hostages, Narumanchi had applied for a volunteer position at the offices a week ago. Police also learned that Narumanchi was a pediatrician who was recently diagnosed with terminal cancer.
"Hostages reported to officers that he was armed with a pistol and what appeared to be a shotgun and had two duffel bags," police said. "Other than the previously mentioned visit to this office there did not appear to be any relation or other contact between Dr. Dodson and Dr. Narumanchi."
'She just had a way with children':Patients, friends grieve Austin doctor killed as hostage
Hours into the standoff with Narumanchi, SWAT officers breached the offices and found both Dodson and Narumanchi dead from apparent gunshot wounds, police said. Investigators think Narumanchi shot himself after shooting Dodson.
The Travis County medical examiner will be conducting an autopsy to determine the official cause and manner of death, police said.
Anyone with more information or video of the incident should call police at 512-974-8477, email homicide.apd@austintexas.gov, use the Crime Stoppers tip line at 512-472-8477 or the Crime Stoppers app.
SWAT team communications suggest doctor was one of hostages at Children's Medical Group in Austin
8:25 a.m.: An hourslong hostage standoff in Central Austin late Tuesday ended after Austin police entered a pediatric office building and found two people dead.
Police have not yet publicly identified the bodies and provided only a few details about the incident. No one else was reported injured.
Officers first arrived at Children's Medical Group, near the intersection of 35th Street and Jackson Avenue just east of MoPac Boulevard, around 4:30 p.m.
Police also had evacuated some nearby homes and asked other residents to stay inside during the response.
More on this story:What we know about the reported Austin hostage situation Tuesday night
Hours into the standoff, Austin police SWAT negotiators could be heard calling out on a bullhorn to the hostage taker, urging them to respond to calls or texts on their phone.
“Your life is very important to me,” a SWAT team member said. “And I know life is very important to you.”
The SWAT team's attempts to communicate with the people inside suggested that an Austin doctor was one of the hostages and that another doctor was the hostage taker.
After several hours of trying to reach the people inside the building, a mobile police robot fitted with a camera went into the building and spotted a body, police said.
The SWAT team around 10:45 p.m. then decided to enter the building and found the two people dead, police said.
Two dead in Austin hostage standoff
11:20 p.m.: Austin police said two people were found dead after authorities made entry into the building involved in a reported hostage situation in Central Austin on Tuesday night.
The hostage situation was reported around 4:30 p.m. and took place at a doctor's office near the intersection of 35th Street and Jackson Avenue.
After several hours of trying to reach the people inside the building, the Austin Police Department had a robot unit go in and identified a victim, officials said.
The SWAT team then decided to enter the building and found two people dead, officials said.
It was immediately unclear whether the two people found dead were the only ones involved in the incident. Authorities did not provide any other additional details Tuesday night.
Hours earlier, SWAT negotiators could be heard calling out on a bullhorn to the hostage taker urging them to answer calls or text messages on their phone.
“Your life is very important to me,” a member of the SWAT team said over the loudspeaker. “And I know life is very important to you.”
The SWAT team's attempts to communicate with the people inside, which could be heard in the surrounding areas, also suggested that an Austin doctor was one of the hostages and that another doctor was the hostage taker.
“You don’t deserve to go through this... for all you have done for others... that is why I want to help you work through this. You have saved a lot of lives,” a hostage negotiator could be heard over the loudspeaker.
Some residents near the area were evacuated and others were asked to stay inside their homes. While the negotiating efforts were taking place, some neighbors could be seen standing in nearby corners listening to the communications over the bullhorn.
