A professional boxer with a promising career who recently was diagnosed with cancer died of gunshot wounds in the lobby of the hospital where he was being treated for the illness.
Police said the victim seemed to be targeted, although five others also were wounded.The gunman waited in the lobby of the Washington Cancer Institute until the victim, Reuben Bell, 24, an outpatient at the institute, arrived about 11 a.m Thursday. The gunman then began shooting, police said.
"It appears the deceased was the intended target," said police spokesman Sgt. Joe Gentile. The gunman "stood over his intended victim and fired multiple times."
Bell, who lived in Washington, was a promising middleweight fighter who had been diagnosed with colon cancer Jan. 4. He had won 13 of his 15 professional bouts but lost his last one, a nationally televised fight with former world champion Simon Brown on Sept. 12.