Nurse Shoots Elderly Patient At Care Home, Then Kills Herself

A nurse from a care home in Pennsylvania brought a semi-automatic handgun to work and killed a patient before killing herself.

Aimee Larkin, aged 42, a licensed nurse from Dunmore, was working the night shift on Monday at Abington Manor in Clarks Summit.

The incident has baffled detectives who said that Larkin shot Howard Kinney, a 79-year-old resident at the home, in the chest, killing him instantly before shooting herself in the head and committing suicide.

The police said they have no clue as to the possible motive could have been for the murder-suicide. Officer Gerrity from the local police department said: “We’re actively investigating this, conducting a lot of interviews, but right now we’re at a loss, actually, as to what the motive was,” he said.

Detectives do not know at this time if the weapon used in the murder belonged to Larkin and there is a possibility that the relationship between the nurse and the patient may have had more to it.

Employees from the care home said they hadn’t noticed anything untoward or any strange behavior from nurse Larkin prior to the shooting. Gerrity continued: “It’s a very bizarre incident. We may never know the motive.”

According to her Facebook status Larkin was married and had worked at the home for around two years.

A spokeswoman from the home, Jeanne Moore, said in an official statement about the shooting: “We are cooperating fully with law enforcement officials at this time and are hopeful that their efforts will help us to understand this tragedy.”

She added that the nursing home’s primary concern at this time was the well-being of patients, residents and staff. It appears by all accounts that the shooting incident at the home was an isolated one, as detectives try to unwind the mystery behind the tragic murder-suicide.