Justin Timperio was shot multiple times on Friday at the Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center in New York, where he had been working as a first-year family medicine resident.
Luciano Timperio's voice sounds drained as he speaks by phone from his home in St. Catharines, Ont. His son, 29-year-old Justin, was shot multiple times on Friday at the Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center in New York where he had been working as a first-year family medicine resident.
"I think he's going to make it. He is still alive."
One person was killed and six others, including Justin, were injured before former hospital employee and gunman Henry Bello shot and killed himself.
Mr. Timperio says his son was on one of the upper floors of the building when Dr. Bello began firing. He's not sure how many bullets hit his son other than to say "there were quite a few."
"He had a massive liver injury from a shot in the liver and he had several abdominal injuries, one in the stomach and several in the intestines. He got shot in the leg and I'm not sure but he may have been grazed by a bullet close to his lungs, as well," said the father, who just returned after spending the weekend at his son's side.
"His mom is still there. She is holding his hand," Mr. Timperio said, adding that his son is set to undergo more surgery on Monday.
Mr. Timperio said his son had worked in the hospital for two previous years during a clerkship.
He had just finished his first year of a three-year family medicine residency.
"He's my son, so I'd like to say that he is going to make it. A full recovery," Mr. Timperio said.
Justin Timperio is listed on the hospital's website as being first-year postgraduate and having a degree in biochemistry from Brock University in St. Catharines, and a medical degree from the American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine.
As the June 30 shooting unfolded, officials told the Associated Press that Dr. Bello walked into the hospital wearing a white lab coat while concealing an AR-15 assault rifle.
They also say that he doused himself in an accelerant and tried to set himself on fire before shooting himself. The Associated Press also reported that two police officers said Dr. Bello had been allowed to resign in 2015 amid sexual-harassment allegations.
Before heading to the hospital, he sent an e-mail to the New York Daily News saying the "hospital terminated my road to a licensure to practice medicine. First, I was told it was because I always kept to myself. Then it was because of an altercation with a nurse." Dr. David Lazala, a former colleague of Dr. Bello, said he had been a problematic employee.
With reports from the Associated Press