Gunman at Florida VA Hospital sentenced to 16 years

Author: CBSMiami.com Team
Published:
Buffalo, UNITED STATES: View of the holding cell 14 November 2006 of his newly painted Dallas County jail with the color scheme of pink with blue teddy bear accents in Buffalo, Missouri. The Dallas County Detention Center is being repainted a soft shade of pink in an effort to better manage sometimes volatile detainees. Sheriff Mike Rackley said he decided to update the look as part of extensive repairs necessary after inmates set a fire and vandalized the interior in an escape attempt 08 October 2006. AFP PHOTO/Jeff HAYNES (Photo credit should read JEFF HAYNES/AFP/Getty Images)

A veteran who opened fire at a Florida hospital, injuring a doctor, was sentenced to more than 16 years in federal prison on Friday.

Larry Ray Bon was at a Veterans Affairs hospital emergency room in West Palm Beach in 2019 when he became frustrated and grabbed a gun in his wheelchair and began firing. A doctor tried to tackle him and was shot in the neck, but eventually wrestled the gun away from Bon. The doctor was severely injured but survived.

Bon pleaded guilty to charges related to the shooting and was initially ordered to be held at a mental health facility after a federal judge determined he was suffering from a mental illness. He was later determined to not need psychiatric hospitalization.

“When this defendant fired shots inside the West Palm Beach VA medical center, he turned a place of healing and comfort into one of violence, fear, and confusion for the U.S. military veterans and medical personnel who were present that day,” Juan Antonio Gonzalez, acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida, said in a news release.

Copyright ©2024 Fort Myers Broadcasting. All rights reserved.

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without prior written consent.