Hospital Official Shot - NPI Chief Hit; Aide Arrested
Hospital official shot
NPI chief hit; aide arrested
By John Barton
POLICE REPORTER
A University of Michigan Hospital administrator was shot five times this morning during an argument with a colleague in the hallway outside their offices.
Donald A. Koos, acting chief administrator of the U-M’s Neuro-Psychiatric Institute (NPI), was taken to emergency surgery bleeding from five gun shot wounds, at least two of which were in the head, witnesses said.
Ann Arbor Police Chief Walter E. Krasny identified the man who shot the 30-year-old Koos as William J. Aparicio, an administrative assistant at NPI. The chief said Aparicio walked to his own office after the 9:15 a.m. shooting where he surrendered quietly to hospital security personnel and city police.
HOSPITAL authorities said Koos and Aparicio had worked together for the past 18 months. Koos was Aparicio’s immediate supervisor at NPI. Both men had worked at other assignments at the hospital for nine years.
At midmorning today, Koos was still undergoing surgery while city police combed the blood-splattered walls and floors of the fifth floor hallway for slugs and spent cartridges. Krasny said a .38 caliber hand gun, believed used in the attack on Koos, was recovered.
Koos was the subject of a feature article written by Ann Arbor News Reporter Bill Dalton in 1977 about Koos’ life-long interest in collecting autographs of famous people.
Aparicio, 46, joined the U-M as an employee in the auditing department in 1969. He moved to the NPI staff at U-M Hospital in 1971. He is the father of one child, now 18.
NPI is located on the fifth floor of the main complex of the U-M Hospital on E. Ann Street on the city’s near northeast side.
In the aftermath of the shooting, the sobs of female employees could be heard echoing in offices of the hospital. Other workers stood stiffly in the darkened hallways, their faces frozen in expressions of horror and shocked disbelief as they stared at the crimson pool of blood staining the floor where Koos fell.
THE MOTIVE for the shooting was unclear this morning but one investigator said the gun fire erupted during a “work-related dispute.” The officer refused to elaborate and witnesses to the shooting declined to talk with a reporter.
Koos’ wounds were treated by a team of surgeons including Dr. Richard C. Schneider, head of the hospital’s neurosurgery department. No report of Koos’ Condition was immediately available.
An earlier report that Koos had fired Aparicio last Friday was denied by U-M Hospital officials. However, workers at NPI admitted there had been a strained relationship recently between Koos and Aparicio.
KOOS, MARRIED and the father of one child, lives at 2565 Lone Oak Drive. Aparicio, listed in a U-M directory as an administrative manager, lives at 1073 Louise Street in Ypsilanti Township.
Both Koos and Aparicio have master’s degrees in business administration. Aparicio’s wife’s name is Amanda and a U-M spokesman said it is believed he came to the United States in the 1960’s as a refugee from Cuba.
KOOS