Don't know where to begin with this story, feel sorry for his wife and kids and all the patients who won't benefit from his help.. RIP Doc
Patient shoots dead the top surgeon who saved his life with double organ transplant
# Victim was married with four young children
# Gunman waited in ambush as doctor left the hospital
A top surgeon has been shot dead by a disgruntled patient whose life he had saved with a double organ transplant.
Dr Dmitriy Nikitin, 41, was gunned down as he walked to his car after finishing his shift at a hospital in Orlando, Florida, where he worked as a leading multiple organ transplant surgeon.
The attacker, Nelson Flecha, spoke briefly to Dr Nikitin before pulling out a gun and shooting him several times.
Shot dead: Dr Dmitriy Nikitin, left, was killed by former patient Nelson Fletcha, right, after finishing his shift at the Florida Hospital, Orlando
The 52-year-old transplant recipient then walked to another parking level and turned the gun on himself.
The murder-suicide last Thursday was caught on CCTV cameras in the parking garage at the Florida Hospital in Orlando.
Police said Flecha had laid in wait to ambush the surgeon as he left the hospital.
Flecha was known to have been a former patient of Russian-born Dr Nikitin and had undergone a liver and kidney transplant a year ago.
Dr Nikitin, described as a 'passionate and meticulous surgeon', was married with four children, including a son aged just three.
Despite the life saving transplant, neighbours said Flecha was a 'bitter and angry man'.
Family man: Dr Dmitriy Nikitin is pictured here with his wife Lyubov, daughter Mariya and one of his sons. He emigrated to the U.S. in 1996
Loving father: Dr Nikitin had four children, the youngest of whom is just three. His family have posted dozens of affectionate snapshots on his memorial page
He lived alone in a small flat in Orange City and never seemed happy, even though he had been given a new lease of life with the double transplant.
One neighbour said: 'Given what this guy had been given you would think he would smile, but he never did.'
Police say they are investigating whether Flecha could have been suffering from complications after the operation.
Investigators said they will ask a court to release medical records to find out more about Dr Nikitin's relationship with his killer.
Flecha's family confirmed Dr Nikitin was the surgeon who carried out his liver and kidney transplant.
Ambush: Police said Nelson Flecha laid in wait for Dr Nikitin before shooting him dead in the parking lot at Florida Hospital, Orlando
Lieutenant Barb Jones, of the Orlando Police Department, said: 'Why the doctor is targeted, we don't know. We are working with the hospital. We still have a lot of unanswered questions.
'It's a horrible incident. Certainly somebody who kills somebody like that in a parking lot. A doctor who works to save lives. It's just a unfortunate situation.'
Dr Nikitin was a respected surgeon who taught at the University of Central Florida's College of Medicine and specialised in liver, kidney, pancreas and intestinal transplants.
He emigrated to the U.S. in 1996 from Omsk, in Siberia, and had previously worked in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Texas.
Tragic loss: Dr Nikitin's family posted this poignant photograph of him asleep with his children on a memorial page shortly after his death last week
Praise: Colleagues have paid tribute to Dr Nikitin, pictured here with his wife and one of his three sons, describing him as a 'passionate and meticulous surgeon'
Last year he was part of a surgical team that set a Florida Hospital record for the most number of transplants ever done in a weekend.
Robert A. Metzger, Chair of the Department of Transplantation at the Florida Hospital, said he and his colleagues will miss Dr Nikitin deeply.
He said: 'He was a very passionate and meticulous surgeon who had an inquisitive mind and a zealous pursuit of excellence. Our transplant team is stunned and grieving.'
A spokesman for the hospital said: 'The Florida Hospital family is deeply saddened by the tragic event Thursday evening which has taken two lives, one of whom is Dr Dmitriy A. Nikitin, a respected and talented multi-organ transplant surgeon.
'At this time, we ask for your sympathy as we and the family of Dr Nikitin grieve for our loss.'
The surgeon is survived by his wife, Lyubov, a daughter, Mariya,17, and three sons, Dmitriy, 13, Andrey, six, and Maxim, three.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...fe-double-organ-transplant.html#ixzz1NxPPV7Fk
And since the shooter shot himself, the investigators are going to have to dig deep into his personal life.
