New Mother Killed, Husband Dead in Hospital Shooting
A 24-year-old woman who had just given birth was shot and killed Sunday night inside Baptist Health Brookwood Hospital, and her 19-year-old husband died at the scene from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said.
The shooting in the hospital’s Women’s Medical Center has raised fresh questions about security inside medical facilities and the dangers of domestic violence that can spill into public places. Homewood police and the Jefferson County Coroner’s Office have called the deaths an apparent domestic assault and murder-suicide. Hospital officials said they locked down the building as officers secured the scene, then reopened normal operations the next day while investigators continued to gather evidence.
Homewood police said officers were dispatched about 9:25 p.m. Sunday, March 1, after a report of shots fired at the Women’s Center on Medical Center Drive. When officers arrived, they found a man and a woman dead from gunshot wounds, authorities said. The woman, Precious Elicia J’anae Johnson of Birmingham, was a patient at the hospital and had been shot multiple times, the coroner’s office said. The man, Kynath William Terry Jr. of Midfield, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to the coroner’s report. Family members later confirmed that Johnson and Terry were married and had just welcomed their first child. Police said no one else was injured, and authorities did not say whether the baby was in the room when the shooting happened.
Investigators have not described a motive, and police have released few details about how the gun entered the hospital or where the couple had been immediately before the shots were fired. Homewood police said their preliminary investigation indicates an apparent murder-suicide. The coroner’s office described the case as a domestic assault. In a statement issued Sunday night, the hospital said it went on lockdown “out of an abundance of caution” and added that there was “no active threat to patients, team members or the public.” The statement said the hospital was cooperating with law enforcement. By Monday morning, hospital officials told local media that the lockdown had ended and the hospital was operating as normal.
The incident drew immediate attention in a region where hospitals, like many public places, often balance open access with security concerns. Danne Howard, president of the Alabama Hospital Association, said the shooting was the first event of its kind she had seen in decades of work with hospitals across the state. “In my 30 years of working at the hospital association and representing our hospitals in the state, this is the first time something has occurred like this,” Howard said in an interview with WVTM-TV. Howard said hospitals typically conduct an after-action review after a major incident to identify what worked, what failed and what needs to be changed. She said the hospital association often helps facilities share lessons learned and best practices. Howard also said Alabama does not have statewide security mandates for hospitals, though she added that policymakers could revisit that after this case.
The shooting also renewed discussion about domestic violence during pregnancy and shortly after childbirth. Rebecca McWilliams, executive director of One Place Metro Alabama Family Justice Center, said her first reaction when she heard about the deaths was that the violence sounded domestic. “It truly affects all of us. And it is a true threat to public health and public safety,” McWilliams said in a WBRC-TV interview. McWilliams said national data show homicide remains a major cause of death for pregnant and postpartum women, and she said the risk can rise when relationships are already unstable. Birmingham police have reported an uptick in domestic violence calls in recent weeks, McWilliams said, though she and police officials did not immediately provide specific figures tied to that increase.
While shootings inside hospitals remain rare, the Birmingham area has seen other incidents over the past decade that led to lockdowns and large police responses. In 2012, a gunman opened fire at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Birmingham and wounded a Birmingham police officer and two hospital employees before officers shot and killed the suspect, according to published reports from the time. In 2018, a shooting at UAB Highlands Hospital killed a hospital employee and injured another worker, and the suspect later died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, authorities said. Those cases, like the Brookwood shooting, prompted shelter-in-place orders and later reviews of how hospitals control access to sensitive units such as labor and delivery.
Police have described the Brookwood case as an active investigation even though the suspect is dead. Investigators typically complete interviews, review surveillance video, collect and test the firearm, and document the scene for a final case file. The coroner’s office can also play a role by confirming causes and manners of death through autopsies and medical records. Hospital leaders can conduct their own internal review focused on safety procedures, staffing and access control, separate from the criminal investigation. Howard said after-action reports often lead to practical changes, such as new screening points, updated visitor rules, or tighter controls at unit entrances, depending on how the suspect gained access and where security layers failed.
City leaders and family members have also begun to grapple with the loss. Homewood Mayor Jennifer Andress said officers “acted quickly to secure the scene and ensure there was no ongoing threat to the public,” and she said the city was working with hospital leadership as the investigation moves forward. Terry’s mother told WVTM-TV she could not understand why the shooting happened and said she never expected her son to become violent, even though she knew the couple had been dealing with marital problems. Police have not said whether there were prior calls for service involving the couple or whether any court records played a role in the investigation.
As of Tuesday, police had not released additional details about the moments leading up to the shooting or the condition and location of the newborn at the time. Homewood police have said they will provide updates through their public information officer as investigators finish the case file. Hospital operations continued normally after the lockdown was lifted, and the Alabama Hospital Association said it expects hospitals statewide to share lessons from Brookwood’s after-action review once it is completed.
