Buffalo Hospital Shooting: Breakup led NY surgeon Timothy Jorden to kill lover and self, police say
(CBS/AP) BUFFALO, N.Y. - Police say Buffalo, N.Y. trauma surgeon Timothy Jorden killed himself with a gunshot to the head as he was being sought for killing his ex-girlfriend over their breakup.
A two-day nationwide search for Jorden ended when police found his body in thick brush a half-mile from his Lake Erie shoreline home. A neighbor had reported hearing a gunshot from the area on Wednesday morning, and police with dogs found the body, dressed in surgical scrubs on Friday morning.
Authorities had been looking for Jorden since Wednesday morning, when 33-year-old Jacqueline Wisniewski was found shot to death in a stairwell at the Erie County Medical Center, where they both worked. Friends said Wisniewski was afraid of the 49-year-old Jorden and had broken off their relationship some time ago.
Police Commissioner Daniel Derenda said Jorden went to the hospital with a shotgun and a .357 Magnum pistol intending to kill Wisniewski because of their breakup. Jorden lured her to the hospital basement, where he shot her five times at point-blank range, Derenda said. He then ran from the hospital and drove home, where surveillance video showed him arriving about 30 minutes later.
Just four minutes later, Jorden is seen leaving the house, down a path to a ravine and disappearing into the woods.
Derenda said Jorden killed himself with one shot to the head from the .357 Magnum and didn't leave a suicide note. He had withdrawn large sums of money recently and had given friends gifts.
Some of Wisniewski's friends told local media outlets that Jorden stalked her after she ended the relationship. One of her friends told WIVB-TV that Wisniewski told her the doctor had put a GPS tracking device in her car and once held her captive in her home for a day and a half, wielding a knife.
The Buffalo News reported that Jorden joined the National Guard in high school, went into the Army after graduation and served with the Army's special forces, first as a weapons expert, then as a medic. In those roles, he served in the Caribbean, Japan and Korea.
Jorden earned a medical degree from the University at Buffalo and trained at the Madigan Army Medical Center in Tacoma, Wash. He received his certification from the American Board of Surgery in 2004.
He was honored by various local organizations over the years for his teaching skills and involvement in the Buffalo community.