It's a shocking case you don't expect to hear about at a doctor's office.
Dr. Benjamin Mauck was inside an exam room on Tuesday at the Campbell Clinic in Collierville, Tennessee, when a patient shot and killed him, police said.
Among the first to hear the tragic news was Bart Barker, a close friend of Mauck, who grew up in the same neighborhood as him.
"Just can't put it into words. You never can in situations like this. And if it hits close to home, such as this has, it just leaves you speechless," Barker said.
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Recent days have been filled with questions from friends and family about how something like this could occur.
"I know that anybody who knew Ben professionally or personally, the grieving is in unison today because we loved him and we hate this happened. And we're just grieving," Barker said.
After a five-minute search, police say they were able to locate 29-year-old Larry Pickens outside of the clinic.
He is being charged with first degree murder and aggravated assault. Police said there are no prior reports filed on Pickens and, so far, a motive is unknown.
Mauck was recognized as a top-surgeon, specializing in elbow, hand and wrist surgeries.
"He had so much more to give. He was relatively young. Still had lots of his career left to go. And helping so many other people and that's also a very extremely unfortunate thing that came to an end," Barker said.
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While an expert in his field, for those closest to him, he wasn't just a great surgeon, he was a great friend.
"He was that kind of person you don't forget. In fact, his senior superlative was most likely to be remembered. And that's very fitting. Extremely fitting for the kind of person that Ben was. As many others know him as Dr. Mauck, those closest to him know his as good old Ben," Barker said.
The story was originally published by Araceli Crescencio for Scripps News Nashville.
