As police sought Guam
clinic gunman,
personnel rushed to assist woundedBy Donovan Brooks
Guam bureau chief
FINEGAYAN
— Karen Potter thought she heard a child’s toy gun go off Monday while in her
office at the Guam Seventh Day Adventist Clinic.
Curious,
she got up to look and heard a second shot, and then saw a co-worker hurry down the
hallway with a grave look on her face.
Potter
realized that someone was firing a real gun in the clinic, so she quickly searched for a
place to hide.
"I was
under my desk and praying," Potter said. "I never expected this to happen,
especially on Guam."
She is
married to Petty Officer 2nd Class Gregory Potter, who works at the Guam Naval Hospital.
About 6,000 active-duty personnel are stationed on the island, which is 212 square miles.
The ordeal
began at about 11:40 a.m., when Peter Maguadog opened fire in the clinic.
A police
spokesman said Maguadog, a former clinic employee, fatally shot his wife, Lucia Maguadog,
43, and nurse Bernadette Moreno, 27, and wounded four others. He was shot by police and
pronounced dead at about 3 p.m. at Guam’s Memorial Hospital.
While under
her desk, Potter wondered whether the day would be her last.
"It
was very scary. You don’t know if it’s a random shooting or not."
Potter said
that while police were trying to capture Maguadog on the first floor of the building,
clinic personnel immediately sprang into action upstairs, assisting the wounded.
"It
was a madhouse. There was blood everywhere, crashcarts everywhere," she said.
The quick
response likely saved the lives of some of the wounded, she said.
The clinic
was closed Tuesday.
Potter said
the familylike atmosphere of the clinic made her feel it was safe. Now she has to deal
with returning to work and seeing the spilled blood of people she knew.
"It’s
extremely tragic," she said. "They were both nice people."
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