Georgia Hospital Shooting: Police ID Shooter in Hutcheson Medical Center Slayings

Police say a gunman opened fire Friday in the intensive care unit of the Hutcheson Medical Center in northern Georgia, killing his wife and mother-in-law.

Shortly after the incident, the male suspect – now identified as 59-year-old James Benson of Chattanooga, Tenn – drove himself to the Fort Oglethorpe Police station about a mile away and turned himself in.

While the motive for the shooting still remains unknown, Georgia police believe the incident appears to have erupted from a heated family argument.

“There was an exchange between him and his wife about her coming back home,” Fort Oglethorpe Police Chief David Eubanks told The Associated Press. “He told them they’d be sorry, walked to the car and came back with a gun in his pocket.”

Officials do not believe the man had an accomplice, but the hospital is still being searched for security purposes, Hutcheson board chairman Corky Jewell said during the conference.

“We’re treating this as a disaster,” Jewell said.

CBS News reports James Benson is expected to face two felony murder charges. He is due in court at 3pm Saturday in Walker County.

via Washington Post
Image: Chattanooga Times