U.S. Doctor with Ties to Detroit, Chicago Among Those Killed in Afghan Attack

A Wayne State (MI) University graduate who previously practiced in Chicago was one of three American doctors shot and killed Thursday when an Afghan security guard opened fire at a hospital in Kabul Thursday.

Dr. E. Jerome “Jerry” Umanous, a 1982 graduate of Wayne State’s School of Medicine, is among the dead, The Detroit Free Press reports, citing NBC News.

The guard apparently turned his weapon on the staff he was supposed to be protecting at the Cure International Hospital. Another doctor and U.S. nurse were wounded in the attack.

Umanous, who performed his residency at Detroit Medical Center’s Children’s Hospital of Michigan, moved to Afghanistan in 2005 to join the staff at the non-profit Cure International, which specializes in child and maternity health.

He had also worked at Lawndale Christian Health Center in Chicago, where he had been a pediatrician for 16 years before moving to Afghanistan with his wife.

Dr. Valerie M. Parisi, dean of the WSU School of Medicine, told The Free Press the shooting was “a terrible tragedy,” both for her his family and for the people Umanos was helping in Afghanistan.

“While I did not know him personally, it is clear from where he was and what he was doing that Dr. Umanos shared the spirit of helping those who need it most, which is a hallmark of our students,” she told the newspaper.