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Argument at Chicago hospital erupts into deadly shooting; 4 killed

Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson, left, and Mayor Rahm Emanuel speak Monday, Nov. 19, 2018, during a news conference at the University of Chicago Medical Center, in Chicago, after a gunman opened fire at Mercy Hospital, killing a police officer and two hospital employees. (Chris Walker/Chicago Tribune via AP)

CHICAGO — CHICAGO (AP) - An argument outside a Chicago hospital turned deadly when a man pulled out a gun and killed an emergency room doctor with whom he was having a domestic relationship, then ran into the hospital and fatally shot a pharmacy resident and a police officer, authorities said.

The attacker also died Monday but it was not clear if he took his own life or was killed by police at Mercy Hospital on the city's South Side, Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson said.

Chicago "lost a doctor, pharmaceutical assistant and a police officer, all going about their day, all doing what they loved," Mayor Rahm Emanuel said, fighting back tears. "This just tears at the soul of our city. It is the face and a consequence of evil."

Mercy Hospital said the staff who died were Tamara O'Neal, 38, an emergency room physician who never worked on Sunday because of her religious faith, and Dayna Less, 25, a first year pharmacy resident who had recently graduated from Purdue University.

The slain officer was identified as Samuel Jimenez, 28, who joined the department in February 2017 and had recently completed his probationary period, Johnson said. Police said he was married and the father of three children.

The identity of the gunman was not immediately released.

The chain of events that led to the shooting began with an argument in the hospital parking lot involving the gunman and O'Neal, police said.

When a friend of O'Neal tried to intervene, "the offender lifted up his shirt and displayed a handgun," Johnson said.

The friend ran into the hospital to call for help, and the gunfire began seconds later, with the attacker killing O'Neal.

After O'Neal fell to the ground, the gunman "stood over her and shot her three more times," a witness named James Gray told reporters.

When officers arrived, the suspect fired at their squad car and then ran inside the hospital. The police gave chase.

Inside the medical center, the gunman exchanged fire with officers and "shot a poor woman who just came off the elevator" before he was killed, Johnson said, referring to pharmaceutical assistant Less.

"We just don't know how much damage he was prepared to do," Johnson said, adding that Less "had nothing to do with nothing."

The death of Jimenez comes nine months after another member of the Chicago Police Department, Cmdr. Paul Bauer, was fatally shot while pursuing a suspect in the Loop business district.

Mercy has a rich history as the city's first chartered hospital. It began in 1852, when the Sisters of Mercy religious group converted a rooming house. During the Civil War, the hospital treated both Union soldiers and Confederate prisoners of war, according to its website.

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Associated Press Writer Michael Tarm contributed to this report.

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For the latest developments in this story: https://apnews.com/b86560bd9fd8414eaf1927f686d03697 .