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| New York Daily News - http://www.nydailynews.com
Staffer shot at Qns. dialysis clinic
BY KERRY BURKE, MELISSA GRACE and DAVE GOLDINER
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
Tuesday, September 6th, 2005
A 64-year-old kidney patient walked into a Queens dialysis center and
opened fire yesterday, seriously wounding a staffer - then calmly
greeted another patient before leaving, police said.
Wildred Austin Jr. allegedly shot dialysis technician Eva Rashid of
Queens once in the abdomen during a terrifying rampage inside the
Western Queens Dialysis Center in Long Island City, police said.
Cops nabbed Austin, who lives near the center, hours later when officers
spotted him in the subway station at 42nd St. and Eighth Ave. in
Manhattan, police said.
"It was horrible, absolutely horrible," said Diana Buliga, a nurse who
cradled the wounded Rashid as the gunman fired as many as six shots.
"There was blood everywhere. I was scared. I'm still scared."
Rashid, a 41-year-old married mother of four, was said to be in stable
condition after undergoing surgery at Elmhurst Hospital Center last night.
Staffers said Austin was an ex-patient who had been barred from the
center a couple of months ago for threatening workers with a knife.
"He said he was going to come back with a gun and shoot everybody,"
Buliga said. "He's a crazy man. Only a crazy man could do this."
Austin walked calmly into the 35th Ave. center shortly before 6 p.m. and
apparently started looking for staff members who had treated him.
Staffers said the gunman knew Rashid, but it was unclear whether he
intended to shoot her.
"The patient came in and started shooting at everybody, like revenge,"
one worker said. "He was so mad at everybody - what for, I don't know."
"Everybody started running," added Michael Orera, a patient.
After Austin allegedly shot Rashid, he continued firing shots into a
wall and searched for another staffer, who was not there.
Buliga cowered behind a dialysis machine with Rashid and tried to use
her shirt to stanch the bleeding.
"I couldn't believe it," she said. "My mind wouldn't let me believe it."
Austin left as quietly as he arrived, saying hello to a patient as he
walked out the door. Cops said that when he was arrested, Austin was
carrying a .357 magnum thought to be the weapon used in the shooting.
Dialysis center officials were not immediately reachable for comment.
More than 400,000 Americans require dialysis, which is an artificial
method of removing toxic substances from the blood when the kidneys are
unable to do so naturally.
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