ATLANTA – A man fatally shot his wife in her second-floor intensive care hospital room and then killed himself Monday morning, authorities said.
The incident took place around 6:15 a.m. at St. Joseph's Hospital (search), said Victor Azar, operations manager for Fulton County Emergency Services (search).
Azar said officers were on the scene investigating the incident and few other details were immediately available.
The woman, who had suffered from a heart-related illness, was believed to be in her 70s, said Cpl. Gary Syblis, a spokesman for the Fulton County Police Department.
Syblis said the shooting happened in the intensive care unit of the hospital. He could not confirm reports the wife had undergone open heart surgery, though he did say her recovery from her illness was not going well and that she had been at the hospital several weeks. He declined to release the victims' names or provide any information about the shooter.
Syblis also declined to say what type of gun was used or how the man got it into his wife's hospital room.
The shootings were confined to one room and no other injuries were reported, police said. A hospital spokeswoman declined to comment on the shooting, saying hospital officials were preparing a statement.
St. Joseph's, founded by the Sisters of Mercy (search) in 1880, is Atlanta's oldest hospital. The 360-bed facility in north Atlanta specializes in cardiac care.
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