Man accused of shooting doctor in Leiria begins to be tried

O man accused of shooting his former doctor and also wound his companion begins to be tried on Monday, in the Court of Leiria, for crimes of offense to physical integrity and detention of prohibited weapon.

According to the charge order, confirmed by a criminal investigation judge, the defendant, 37 years old and in house arrest as a measure of coercion, was accompanied, during the year 2022, at the Hospital de Santo André, in Leiria, by the doctor, director of the Psychiatry and Mental Health Service of the Local Health Unit of the Region of Leiria.

“ At that time, the defendant was diagnosed with depression, anxiety and paranoid symptoms, having the clinician prescribed “medicine for the treatment of such diseases”, reads the final dispatch of the MP.

The Public Prosecutor (MP) says that, on a date not cleared, but before October 17, 2025, the date of the crimes, the defendant “designed a plan to harass, scare and seriously hurt” the doctor.

Among other aspects, the final dispatch of the MP, consulted by the agency Lusa, reports that, at 11:00 p.m. that day, the defendant went to the couple's house, in the municipality of Leiria, “immunized of a compressed air gun of free acquisition, municiada com projectiles of type metal balls 4.5 mm in diameter, where he waited, hidden, dressed in dark clothes and covered face”, by the arrival of the doctor.

As soon as the clinician, accompanied by the companion, parked the car in the access ramp to the garage, the defendant jumped the wall and, within walking distance, made several shots that hit him nine times, in the head, arms and back.

According to the DA, the defendant then went to the other victim, who tried to shoot, but he couldn't because the gun was demunicated.

Once she realized that the defendant intended to flee, she tried to stop it, but was pushed by the suspect and fell to the ground.

The defendant jumped the wall and fled. Both victims were transported to the emergency department of Leiria Hospital.

The MP argues that the shots aimed at the clinician “because he is his assistant physician and director of the Psychiatry Service of the hospital of Leiria, and were carried out following the medical follow-up”.

For the MP, the defendant revealed “disappreciation and total disregard for the physical integrity” of the physician, “wanting to hit him with the multiple shots of the compressed air firearm that he had brought with him”, having acted for a reason “not specifically ascertained, but certainly puerile and devoid of importance”.

On the other hand, the suspect struck the other victim to “facilitate his escape”, knowing that “his conduct was suitable to provoke (...) serious injuries to his body and health, immediately due to the violence with which he gave the push”.

The defendant, at the time of arrest, was seized, in a backpack, in the pocket of his pants and in his car, EUR 72,580 in cash, two compressed air guns, an automatic opening knife and two stylets, among other articles.

The trial, by a collective court, is scheduled to begin at 9:30 with the defendant to answer for two crimes of offense to qualified physical integrity, in simple and serious forms, and a crime of possession of a prohibited weapon and crime committed with a gun, possession of the knife and the stylus.