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"Today we learned the tragic news that Dr. Gary Swank, interventional cardiologist, medical director of Carilion Clinic’s Cardiac Catheterization Lab and an associate professor of internal medicine at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine, was found murdered, along with his local tour guide," according to a hospital statement issued Monday. "We are heartbroken at his loss. Dr. Swank was a well-respected and well-loved colleague who, each and every day, embodied the values that we hold dear. His absence leaves a void in our team and in our community."
Swank, an avid fly fisherman, was traveling with his wife and school-age children, neighbors told NBC affiliate WSLS in Roanoke.
The doctor and his guide, 53-year-old Mario Graniel, had gone out in their skiff Sunday at about 11:30 a.m. local time and were later found shot to death, police in San Pedro said.
Graniel was found "in a fetal position behind the steering wheel of the skiff" and had been shot four times, according to a police statement. Swank's "lifeless body" was "floating face down in the lagoon about 30 feet away from the skiff" with four gunshot wounds, police said.
They were fishing when "a dark color skiff passed by and open fire on the boat," police said.
Police believe the gunmen were targeting Graniel, who "had a misunderstanding with one of the local notorious gang" figures of San Pedro, Belize Police Commissioner Chester Williams told local Channel 5 news.
Someone had shot at Graniel's home the night before the double murder but he still went to work on Sunday despite these threats, police said.
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Prominent Virginia doctor and his tour guide murdered in Belize
Police believe the gunmen were targeting the tour guide, who "had a misunderstanding with one of the local notorious gang" figures, according to the Belize police commissioner.
www.nbcnews.com
