Prosecutor: Man kills doctor who wouldn't prescribe his wife opioids
MISHAWAKA, Ind. -- A prosecutor says a northern Indiana man fatally shot a doctor because he would not prescribe opioid painkillers to the man's wife.
St. Joseph County Prosecutor Ken Cotter identified the gunman Thursday as 48-year-old Michael Jarvis of Mishawaka.
Police say Jarvis fatally shot 56-year-old Dr. Todd Graham on Wednesday in a parking lot outside the St. Joseph Rehabilitation Institute in Mishawaka.
Cotter says Graham declined to prescribe highly addictive opioids to Jarvis' wife during an appointment Wednesday morning. Witnesses tell CBS affiliate WSBT Jarvis got into an argument with the doctor, and then the couple left.
Cotter says Jarvis returned to the medical center about two hours later and shot Graham. Jarvis told two witnesses to leave before opening fire, the station reports.
"Make no mistake, this was a person who made a choice to kill Dr. Graham. This is not a fallout from an opioid epidemic or opioid problems," Cotter told the station. "This was a person who made that choice."
Jarvis then drove to a friend's home about three miles away and fatally shot himself.
Cotter says Jarvis's wife wasn't aware of her husband's actions.