A prominent California doctor was shot and killed during an ambush outside his Los Angeles clinic while a motive for the deadly attack remains a mystery.
Hamid Mirshojae was gunned down as he was walked towards his car in the parking lot of Woodland Hills Medical Clinic and Urgent Care just after 5:30 p.m. — an hour after he closed the office — on Friday, KTLA reported.
The Los Angeles Police Department arrived 42 minutes later where they found the 61-year-old physician suffering from a gunshot wound next to his white SUV.
Mirshojae, who worked as a primary care and emergency care physician, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Several bullet casings were found nearby, according to KCAL.
The suspect, who has not been identified, fled the scene on foot.
Police believe there’s only one gunman involved in the fatal shooting, but have not released a description or a motive, according to the outlet.
Mirshojae’s bio says his patients included “celebrities, movie stars, athletes and many people of different walks of life.”
He graduated from the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific and was board-eligible in addiction medicine and had over 10 years of experience in addictionology.
“He’s been full of love. He’s been full of care,” former patient Khedhar Quintero told KTLA. “He doesn’t care that you’re just another number in his lobby, he cares about your future as well.”
“He helped a lot of people with detox,” Quintero added. “Who knows what they could’ve been going through. He could’ve changed something in their life. He could’ve done something different that they didn’t like, and someone wanted him removed from this world unfortunately.”
“He’s been my doctor for 15 years, he made me feel better,” Gloria Sera told the outlet. “He was from Iran, and I don’t know if he was telling me the truth, but last time I came, he said he had just gotten married.”
Mirshojae’s wife, whom he married last year, and their 6-month-old daughter were visiting family in Turkey at the time of the shooting.
They are returning to the US after learning about Mirshojae’s death, KCAL reported.
Mirshojae has three adult children from a previous marriage.
His ex-wife, Ahang Zarin Kelk, paid tribute to Mirshojae in a Facebook post sharing details of his memorial service.
“Hamid, the kids and I are in so much shock we miss you so bad,” she said. “August 23rd 5:30pm they took Hamid away from us right in front of his practice.
“He was always helping people seeing tens and thousands of patients for decades we fought HARD to make life happen starting from nothing in the apartment and still the world is so cold,” she said.
“He left the world with 4 beautiful children,” Kelk added. “We want to be strong in the face of evil to remember Hamid Father, Husband, Doctor and Friend.”
Months before Mirshojae’s death, three men armed with baseball bats attacked the father and left him to fear for his life.
“They came and they beat him with baseball bats,” an employee told the Los Angeles Times. “They were some strangers that we didn’t know.”
Police have not revealed a motive for the beating.
Detectives are aware of the previous beating but have not concluded if it was related to the fatal shooting, according to the outlet.