ST. JOSEPH COUNTY, IN (WNDU/CNN) - Officials said Michael Jarvis went to the St. Joseph Medical Center Wednesday with the intention of killing doctor Todd Graham, but it could have been much worse.
"Although there would have been a specific target, it's like trapping an animal in a corner. They're going to come out fighting, and I truly believe that this could have escalated into a mass shooting," homicide commander Tim Corbett said.
The county prosecutor said Jarvis confronted Dr. Graham in the parking lot when he would not prescribe opioids for his wife's chronic pain.
"It was Dr. Graham's opinion that chronic pain did not require prescription drugs. Make no mistake that that this was a person who made a choice to kill Dr. Graham,” county prosecutor Ken Cotter said. This is not a fallout from any opioid epidemic or any opioid problems."
Officials said this is more than just a doctor or law enforcement issue.
"He did what we ask our doctors to do. Don't over prescribe opioids. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, Jarvis made that choice to take his life," Cotter said.
It left the entire community in mourning.
"His personality was electric. I can tell you one thing that we have joked about is Todd Graham will be the best dressed man in heaven," Graham's friend Dr. AJ Mencias said.
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