Surgeon Slain in Boston Shooting Survived by Pregnant Wife, 3 Kids
— -- The doctor who died of his injuries after a lone gunman entered a Boston hospital and shot him Tuesday was expecting a baby with his wife, who is 7 months pregnant, the hospital said today.
Cardiovascular surgeon Dr. Michael Davidson, 44, of Wellesley, Massachusetts, succumbed to his injuries late Tuesday, officials said.
Davidson has three children -- ages 9, 7 and 2 and a half years old -- and his wife is 7 months pregnant, Brigham and Women's Hospital said today.
Four of Davidson's colleagues spoke about him today at the hospital, remembering him as "almost always the smartest man in the room."
"You all should be absolutely assured that Michael Davidson was one of the kindest, best possible men that ever walked on this earth," his colleague and mentor Dr. Andrew Eisenhauer said today at a news conference. "We knew that and his patients knew that and his family knows that."
The gunman, who is also dead, was identified by police as Stephen Pasceri, 55, of Millbury, Massachusetts. He entered the building Tuesday morning asking by name for the doctor he would soon shoot, authorities said. After the shooting, Pasceri was found dead with a self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said.
Davidson introduced himself to patients as "Mike Davidson" instead of "Dr. Davidson," played guitar, and had "a silly side," his colleagues said. The band he and other Brigham and Women's doctors played with was called "Off Label."
Dr. Pinak Shah, another colleague, said doctors at Brigham and Women's Hospital never felt they would be the targets in a shooting like this. The hospital lowered its flag to half mast and had a vigil at noon.
"I think we've all said among ourselves we just can't stop the resolve of physicians doing what we do," Shah said. "We just have to keep going. And just try to take this as one of those things that hopefully will never repeat itself."
Editor's Note: An earlier version of this article misstated that the name of the band was "Operating Room." It was "Off Label."
