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Doctor says he found woman clinging to friend killed in Pittsburgh shooting

Doctor who treated victims describes scene
Doctor who treated Pittsburgh shooting victims describes scene 06:10

A doctor who treated victims of the Pittsburgh shooting that left 11 dead and six injured described the harrowing scene in an interview with CBS News Monday. Dr. Keith Murray said he was with his three children at a Halloween party when he received an alert about an active shooter. 

Murray is the medical director of tactical EMS at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC). Dressed in full SWAT gear, he and his colleague cleared one section of the synagogue before coming across five bodies. They soon realized one person was still alive, holding her friend's body.

"The fifth one was not moving at the time, but once we encountered her, we realized that she was shot, she was in shock, and she was simply holding onto her deceased friend," he told CBS News' David Begnaud in Pittsburgh.

"I think this was just four people coming to the synagogue to pray with friends," he continued. "They were facing forward, looking at the rabbi, and the [gunman] walked up behind them and just started shooting."

Murray said there was an eerie calm over the entire building.

"You are walking into this place of worship — it is aesthetically beautiful. You have to reconcile that image with the fact that you are now looking at four dead people," he said. "It is a scene that you never want to see."

Armed with an AR-15 and three handguns, Robert Bowers, 46, shot the congregants as he shouted anti-Semitic slurs, authorities said. Bowers made his first court appearance Monday and will be back in court Thursday morning. He remains in custody without bail. 

Robert Bowers appears in court after Pittsburgh synagogue massacre 06:50

After Murray heard a knocking sound that turned out to be gunfire, he realized an officer had been shot on the second floor of the building.

"The knocking became more rapid, more intense, and then it just kind of magnified from there. That was our officers getting into a gunfight with the individual," he said.

"It was our number one operator in the room. He took the most gunfire. He went down straight there. One of our guys stepped over him and used himself as a shield," Murray said, adding that they knew the officer suffered life-threatening injuries.

"He had two gunshots wounds to his arm and multiple to his lower extremities. He did not look well. We knew that this was going to go bad, potentially."

Murray and the SWAT team were able to safely remove the wounded officer from the building. He praised the work of his colleagues and said there's no doubt in his mind that "two people are alive today because of them."

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