FBI: Suspect in Fayetteville VA hospital shooting was seeking mental health help

Jasmine Laquanmoyea Thomas is charged with assault with intent to commit murder. She was scheduled to make her first court appearance on Monday afternoon.

Michael James Walker was discharged from the VA hospital on Friday afternoon after being treated for an undisclosed issue in the emergency department, according to the FBI. When he walked outside to call his wife for a ride, people inside heard a gunshot, and Walker stumbled back inside, saying he had been shot.

Walker's wife said she heard commotion over the phone, but not her husband's voice. Moments later the hospital called and told her he had been shot.

A VA police officer ran outside and saw Thomas and her mother, Pamela Machelle McKinnon, who was in a wheelchair. The officer took Thomas into custody, and as he approached McKinnon, Thomas informed the officer that she was the one who had shot Walker, according to the FBI.

McKinnon later told investigators that she was taking her daughter to the VA hospital for mental health treatment, but when they pulled up outside the emergency department, Thomas jumped out of the vehicle with a red duffel bag, pulled a gun from the bag and shot Walker, according to the FBI.

Authorities found ammunition inside a duffel bag outside the emergency department entrance, and security camera footage shows a gun being tossed inside the emergency department immediately after the shooting, according to the FBI.

Walker was taken to Cape Fear Valley Medical Center for treatment of a gunshot wound to the abdomen. His wife said he needed surgery.

Thomas and Walker don't know each other, the FBI said.

Gabriel Carr, a hospital employee who left shortly before the shooting said the incident didn't cause him concern about the campus' security.

"Thing happen," he said. "This is one of those incidents where they are far and few between."

Carr said hospital police are very visible.

“You always see them running around, rolling, in their cars or walking. I feel safe here," he said.