TITUSVILLE, Fla. – Moments after security guards, drawn to the sound of gunfire, tackled David Owens at Parrish Medical Center in Titusville, the suspected 29-year-old killer of a hospital worker and patient stared ahead and said, "I’ve done something wrong.”
Titusville police said Owens arrived at Parrish on a bicycle on Sunday, walked into the emergency department entrance, then used the elevator to make it to the third floor of the hospital's open-air atrium, where he was seen on video.
Surveillance video also shows him strolling past the nurse’s desk toward the west wing, where he walked into room 320, News 6 partner Florida Today reported.
Police said it was there that Owen – whom authorities said had been taken into custody several times in recent years for mental health observations - fired an unknown caliber gun in the room. A charge nurse on the floor heard what she believed was one of the women in the room shouting, “There’s a shooter,” before two gunshots were fired."
Police said Owens shot and killed 88-year-old Cynthia Zingsheim, a patient at the hospital, and 36-year-old employee Carrie Rouzer, a patient sitter who was assigned to Zingsheim.
The 215-pound man stepped out of the room and lingered near a women's restroom, where he was tackled and subdued by the hospital’s security team. His clothing was covered in blood, according to reports.
The deadly shooting, described as "extremely random," by Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey, was reported just after 2 a.m. at Parrish Medical Center in Titusville, prompting a massive response from several dozen officers in the Titusville Police Department and the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office. Authorities determined within the first hour of the event that the suspect acted alone and that no other facilities were threatened.
The shooting also raised a host of questions about Owens, described as unemployed, and his previous contact with law enforcement. Records show that he was committed to Circles of Care in April 2013. Records also show that Owens was taken into custody several other times for mental health evaluations since 2006.
Investigators are now searching through his medical background, including his treatment history and medication usage, for clues about why the hospital or its patients and employees were targeted. Investigators also are trying to determine whether Owens was under the influence of drugs.
“(Owens) is known to us, and he does have a criminal history, but nothing that would make you think it would get on from there,” Titusville Police Chief John Lau said in the hours after the shooting.
Owens, who appeared disheveled after he was removed from the four-story hospital, was expected to go before a judge today on the murder charges, but prosecutors say he waived his first appearance.
"This is possibly in my 29 years of doing this job, the most unusual homicide I've ever had to deal with," said Assistant State Attorney Gary Beatty.
"This has nothing to do about guns. This is about demons. This is a mental health issue. How the gun was obtained or why the gun was there, that's not something the state is concerned with because we don't have to prove it."
But Beatty did say he's concerned the suspect's history of mental illness could delay the trial.
Owens was found mentally incompetent in a previous case.
"Since he was previously found incompetent and has not been restored to competency, the law presumes he is still incompetent," said Beatty.
That means Owens will go through more evaluations and then a hearing to determine if he's mentally fit to stand trial.
Owens is being held without bond.
Investigators said he left one handgun used in the attack in the room. Moments later, unarmed hospital security officers Matt Dolan and Jason Rowley subdued Owens and held him until police arrived.
“They acted to attack the suspect and worked as a team, keeping others from getting hurt,” Lau said of Dolan and Rowley. “There's no doubt about that.''
Detectives are interviewing witnesses, but officials say they believe that Owens did not know the women who were killed. Owens has an extensive arrest record, including charges related to oxycodone possession, sale of cocaine, battery on a law enforcement agent, robbery and battery.