Mercy Hospital Shooting: Funerals Set For Victims; How To Help

CHICAGO — A Chicago police officer and two employees at a Near South Side hospital were the victims of the shooting spree that erupted Monday at Mercy Hospital and Medical Center following a domestic dispute over a broken relationship. The gunman responsible for the attack also was dead, turning his weapon on himself after police shot and wounded him.

At a time of year many set aside to spend with loved ones, the victims' families and friends now must struggle with the grief and loss stemming from this week's tragedy. Here's what we know about shooting, the lives that were lost and how some people are moving forward.

The Shooting

The incident happened before 3:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 22, at Mercy Hospital and Medical Center when a domestic argument between Dr. Tamara O'Neal, a hospital emergency room physician, and Juan Lopez, her 32-year-old ex-fiancé, escalated in the facility's parking lot. It was there that Lopez had confronted O'Neal over their broken engagement before shooting her multiple times, eventually standing over her body as he continued firing, according to authorities.

Police arrived at the hospital in response to 911 calls, and a shootout broke out inside the building between officers and Lopez. Gunfire ripped through a squad car, and a police pistol became an unlikely shield for an officer when his holster deflected a bullet into his gun's barrel, said Chicago police Supt. Eddie Johnson.

RELATED: 4 Dead, Including A Chicago Cop, in Mercy Hospital Shooting

During the shootout, Ofc. Samuel Jimenez was critically wounded in the neck. He was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. Dayna Less, 24, a first-year pharmacy resident, had been walking out of a hospital elevator when she was shot and killed.

By the end of the exchange, Lopez had been wounded in the stomach, according to authorities. He then took his own life, shooting himself in the head, police said.

The Victims

Tamara O'Neal had been the first doctor in her family, inspired to go to medical school after holding a human brain as an undergrad at Purdue University, where she earned a bachelor or arts degree in 2007. She graduated from the University of Illinois College of Medicine in Chicago in 2016 and had worked as an ER doctor in Michigan City, Indiana, before coming to Mercy.

Patrick Connor, head of Mercy's Emergency Department, told the Chicago Tribune that O'Neal was devoted to her church. Friends of the 38-year-old doctor struggled with the tragedy after hearing the news.

RELATED: Chicago Mourns Slain Police Officer, Mercy Hospital Employees

"My friend Tamara was senselessly murdered today. Still in disbelief," wrote Dr. Eric Iheme, a fellow ER physician in Texas. "Rest in Heaven."

Samuel Jimenez was one of the newest officers with the Chicago Police Department. He joined the force in 2017 and had only recently finished his probationary period with the department in August.

A graduate of Chicago's Foreman High School and Northeastern Illinois University, Jimenez was a father of three. He and his wife were set to celebrate their one-year wedding anniversary in December.

Fellow Chicago police officers lined the sidewalk outside the U of C facility after the ambulance carrying Jimenez arrived. At 28, Jimenez should have been ushering in the beginnings of a promising law enforcement career. Instead, his colleagues held a grim procession as the young officer's body was taken from the South Side medical center to the Cook County morgue.

Federal and state law enforcement officers escorted the ambulance about 10 miles to its destination at 2121 W. Harrison St. U.S. flags hung from ladder trucks and fire engines along the route.

Jimenez is the second Chicago police officer to have been killed in the line of duty this year. That total is largest the department has seen since five officers were slain in 2010. On Feb. 13, Cmdr. Paul Bauer, 53, was shot multiple times outside the Thompson Center while trying to help tactical officers apprehend a 44-year-old career criminal wanting for questioning, according to authorities.

Like Jimenez, Dayna Less was a relatively new face at her current workplace, Mercy Hospital. She had recently graduated from Purdue University and began working at the medical center in July.

According to the wedding website The Knot, the Schererville, Indiana, woman had planned to be married in June 2019.

"That woman [Less] got off an elevator and was shot. Why?" Supt. Johnson said during a press conference Monday.

The Gunman

Before his shooting spree Monday, Juan Lopez had no criminal record and had a valid Firearm Owners ID and concealed carry permit. But his past was filled with troubling and potentially violent incidents, especially involving women.

RELATED: Mercy Gunman Threatened To Shoot Up Chicago Fire Academy

About five years ago, Lopez had threatened to shoot up the Chicago Fire Academy after he was fired before he finished training following allegations of "aggressive and improper conduct" toward women. He had not been assigned to a fire station as either a paramedic or a firefighter at the time of his firing.

In court filings requesting a divorce and an order of protection, Lopez's ex-wife claimed the DePaul University graduated slept with a gun under his pillow, according to CBS 2 Chicago. Fearing for her safety, she also wanted Lopez held for contempt for failing to pay nearly $6,000 in child support for their 6-year-old son.

RELATED: Hospital Shooter Kept Gun Under Pillow: Ex-Wife In Court Docs

Agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives searched Lopez's home following the shooting in an effort to trace his weapons. He had legally purchased at least four guns in the past five years, including the 9mm handgun used in Monday's attack.

How to Help

Mercy Hospital has set up an online fundraising campaign to help the families of O'Neal and Less. O'Neal's closest friends from medical school also created the Tamara E. O'Neal Memorial Fund, a GoFundMe campaign that will raise money to be donated to the University of Illinois College of Medicine to go toward the Tamara E. O'Neal Memorial Scholarship for young, underrepresented minority medical students and/or residents.

"Tamara O’Neal … was one of the warmest human beings any person could ever talk to and be fortunate enough to develop a close relationship with," the fundraising page reads. "She was filled with empathy, compassion, and a love and loyalty that was unmatched."

RELATED: Funeral Set For Chicago Cop Killed In Mercy Hospital Shooting

The Chicago Police Memorial Foundation has raised $60,000 for Jimenez's family, and the fund will cover any expenses connected to for his children's education, according to ABC 7 News. Donations to Jimenez's family can be made online to the 100 Club of Chicago, which helps the families of police officers and firefighters who die in the line of duty.

The Funerals

Visitation for Samuel Jimenez will be from 3 to 9 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 25, at Oehler Funeral Home, 2099 Miner St., Des Plaines, according to the funeral home. A funeral Mass will be from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 26, at the St. Joseph Chapel of the Our Lady of Guadalupe Shrine, 1170 N. River Road.

Cardinal Blase Cupich of the Archdiocese of Chicago will be the main celebrant at Jimenez's funeral.

Visitation for Dr. Tamara O'Neal will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 30, at Haverstock Funeral Home, 602 Maple Ave., in LaPorte, Indiana. Another visitation will be at 10 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 1, at First Church of God, 2020 E. Lincolnway, LaPorte, and a funeral service will be at 11 a.m. at the Pine church. Interment will be at Pine Lake Cemetery, 1367 Pine Lake Road, LaPorte.

Visitation for Dayna Less will be from 2 to 8 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 25, at Lincoln Ridge Funeral Home, 7607 W. Lincoln Hwy., Schererville, Indiana. A Pomen prayer service will be held at 7 p.m. A funeral service will be at 9 a.m. Monday, Nov. 26, at St. Archangel Michael Serbian Orthodox Church, 1500 186th St., Lansing, and she will be laid to rest at St. Sava Cemetery in Libertyville.

Chicago police officers mourn the death of Ofc. Samuel Jimenez on Tuesday, Nov. 20, at the Wentworth District station. (Photo by Scott Olson | Getty Images)