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Security at Bronx Hospital Was 'In Place' Before Shooting Rampage, Rep Says

 Former hospital employee Henry Bello, armed with an assault rifle, fatally shot a doctor and wounded several others before killing himself Friday at Bronx-Lebanon Hospital, police said.
Former hospital employee Henry Bello, armed with an assault rifle, fatally shot a doctor and wounded several others before killing himself Friday at Bronx-Lebanon Hospital, police said.
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DNAinfo/Katie Honan; (inset) NYPD (top left) and Facebook (bottom right)

THE BRONX — The shooting at Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Friday that left a doctor and her killer dead as well six others wounded was not due to a lapse in security, the hospital's vice president said.

Errol Schneer said the hospital is reviewing surveillance footage leading up to the moment when Henry Bello, 45, used an assault rifle to open fire on the 16th and 17th floors, but that he is “very confident that the security that needed to be in place was in place.”

“It’s in place today, and it will be in place tomorrow,” Schneer said Monday from the hospital. “Where we’re going to be reviewing things is working with the NYPD to hopefully refine things if necessary and strive for perfection.”

Dr. Tracy Sin-Yee Tam, 32, was on the 16th floor covering a shift for a colleague when Bello began his murderous rampage, shooting Tam dead and wounding six others before trying to set himself ablaze. He ultimately turned the gun on himself, police said.

Friends have launched a an online fundraising campaign to try to cover Tam's funeral costs.

Tam, of Hillcrest, Queens, was remembered by colleagues at the hospital Monday as a kind-hearted, generous doctor who was devoted to her patients.

“She was an amazingly compassionate and wonderful human being, who always, right from medical school, wanted to serve the underserved community,” said the hospital’s physician-in-chief, Dr. Sridhar Chilimuri.

“Mentors had advised her that this would be one place where she would make a difference, and that was the reason why she came to Bronx-Lebanon.”

Three shooting victims remained in the hospital Monday afternoon. Dr. Oluwafunmike Ojewoye, who suffered a neck injury in the attacked, was discharged earlier in the day.

“She’s recovered quite well, and she’ll be going home,” Chilimuri said.

Bello previously worked for the city's Human Resources Administration as a probationary caseworker for HIV/AIDS patients despite having four prior arrests, including one in 2004 in which he grabbed a 23-year-old woman's crotch and told her, 'You're coming with me,'" according to city officials and reports.

In that case, he pleaded guilty to a lesser charge and was sentenced to community service, according to the Manhattan District Attorney's Office. A city spokeswoman said Bello had undergone the necessary background check before being hired but that arrest hadn't come up because of the plea deal.

"After previously working for the City Health and Hospital Corporation, Mr. Bello was hired at HRA off of the civil service list and like all city employees was subject to a criminal background check," City Hall Spokeswoman Jaclyn Rothenberg said. "His check did not reveal his 2004 arrest because he pled to a lower charge that didn't show up as a disqualifying offense in a background check."

Bello had been hired off a Civil Service list and started work for the agency on Sept. 6, 2016, but stopped showing up to work on April 11 of this year, a city representative said.

He was ultimately fired on June 21, roughly a week before opening fire at Bronx-Lebanon.

He had been in and out of the shelter system for years, but had secured permanent housing with a Section 8 voucher in March, an official said.

Meanwhile, Chilimuri said he’s been in close contact with Tam’s parents and is struggling to provide answers.

“They’re quite distraught,” he said. “The father asked me, ‘Why did my daughter have to die?’”