Patient in gun attack 'has Aids'

LOS ANGELES (Reuter) - A disgruntled patient who seriously wounded three doctors and took two women hostage at gunpoint in a Los Angeles hospital emergency room before surrendering told police he suffers from Aids, authorities said yesterday. Damacio Ybarra Torres, 40, wore a camouflage jacket concealing three guns when he strode into the crowded waiting-room at the US's largest hospital.

One of his victims, Dr Richard May, 47, was in critical condition, clinging to life after undergoing surgery for gunshots to the head and chest, hospital officials said. Police described Mr Torres as a patient who finally snapped after suffering through what he said were 12 years of poor medical treatment at the Los Angeles County-University of Southern California Medical Centre.