BALTIMORE — A sign on the front door of the Light Street Animal Hospital said employees would not be commenting on a violent shooting and barricade the day before that injured a prominent veterinarian and locked down a nearby elementary school.
The brother of veterinarian Dr. John Trujillo shot him in the leg and then barricaded himself inside, according to sources who know the victim.
Police and paramedics bravely went into the building and got the doctor safely out while his armed brother remained inside.
Dispatch recordings shed new light on the response including how police quickly worked to move people away from the area and how they feared the suspect would shoot at people on the street. “If he starts shooting, we’ll have to enter,” an officer said.
It took about three hours of negotiations before the suspect surrendered.
“They didn’t know what was in there. First, we heard he had gasoline in there and then they said there was explosives,” said Charlene DePasquale who was locked down inside her home less than a block away. “I was worried because in the beginning, I thought stuff like that don’t happen around here.”
Police declined to answer questions about the investigation Tuesday but said the suspect had been hospitalized and an arrest warrant would be issued once he was released.
Vivian Holsback had to evacuate her home. She lives nearby and her dog Mabel goes to Dr. Trujillo.
“It’s just sad the whole situation since they’re brothers and all that,” Holsback said.
Another client of Dr. T, as the veterinarian is known, declined to give his name but said he was “heartbroken” over the incident.
“It was definitely alarming to think that it’s a block away from home and it’s at my vet,” the client said. “I really hope that he can come back because he’s such a great vet. He was our vet for our puppy and he’s really knowledgeable. He’s just a great vet.”