Author: Kathleen Kennedy
Company: Department of Veterans Affairs

By JANICE L. HABUDA, News Staff Reporter

8/21/01

For medical file clerk John Skyler, it was his instincts as a combat veteran that kicked in after a man stormed into Veterans Affairs Medical Center, rifle in one hand and hunting knife in the other. 
"Sometimes you act from instinct," said Skyler, who served in the Marine Corps during the Vietnam War. And those instincts propelled him to try to disarm accused assailant Samuel Miles Bobo on Friday and protect other lives. 
"Who knows if he would have realized how many (people) he could have came through and shot," Skyler said. "If he didn't have the weapon, he couldn't shoot nobody else." 
Skyler spoke Monday afternoon from his hospital bed, where he continues to recover from a stab wound that nicked his liver and intestine. During exploratory surgery, Skyler said, his gallbladder also was removed. 
Another victim, parking attendant Gary Muck, is in good condition, recovering from a gunshot wound to the neck. The third victim, part-time van driver Mann Pollock, who suffered a gunshot wound to the hand and a stab wound to the buttock while also trying to disarm Bobo, was released from the hospital Sunday. 
The accused assailant, a 39-year-old Army veteran from Buffalo, is in the custody of federal authorities. When chaos erupted near the hospital's outpatient clinic entrance Friday morning, Skyler said he was heading up from his basement office to see a friend in the transportation area, which is nearby, about lunch. He heard gunshots and once they stopped, he ventured farther. 
"As I peeked around the corner, the individual came at me," Skyler said. "It felt like he punched me in the stomach." 
When the man stepped back, Skyler said he saw a knife in his left hand and the rifle in his right. Skyler then realized he had been stabbed. 
As the chaos continued, Skyler said he saw the rifle come flying down the corridor. He said he picked it up by its barrel and walked toward the emergency room. 
Meanwhile, it was back to work Monday for nurse practitioners Karen Dudenhoefer and Kathleen Burns, who work in the cardiology unit. They happened to be walking out of the building Friday morning when Muck was shot. 
"We heard the shot and looked toward the shot," Burns said. "We saw the attendant fall to the ground. The shooter was right there." 
Both watched as the assailant turned toward the building with the rifle in his hand. At one point before he walked inside, the rifle was trained on them. 
Dudenhoefer ran to help Muck, putting pressure on the wound to his neck. Burns ran in another door to warn others. 
"When I went into the emergency room, he was shooting. Everybody . . . was diving for cover," Burns said. 
Out in the parking lot, Muck's condition was stable, Dudenhoefer said. The shot went through his neck, missing the major arteries and his spinal cord, the nurses said. 
"When the shooter came back out and walked towards us without the gun, the patient said, "Isn't that the guy who shot me?' " Dudenhoefer said. "The shooter walked within one to two feet behind us." He said: "You'd better get out of my way," she recalled. 
Bobo's car was parked where Muck fell, and Dudenhoefer said she asked Muck if he could walk - in case Bobo decided to run them over. "The patient said, "Let's get the license plate number,'" Dudenhoefer said. "We turned around together and both looked." 
Dudenhoefer, who said she always carries a pen tucked behind her ear, wrote down the plate number on the upper part of her left arm. Her lab coat is among the evidence collected by the FBI. 
Once everybody was back in the hospital, the plate number was given to security, who alerted Buffalo police. 
As for feeling safe in the workplace, Dudenhoefer said she feels "as safe as you feel anywhere. As safe as any facility can be. You never know." 
Skyler, who's worked at the medical center since 1987, isn't sure when he'll be back to work. 
"I'll probably take a little time off to recuperate," he said. The enormity of what happened has only begun to sink in. 
"At the . . . time you don't think about it," he said. "After, you really realize what has taken place."