M.D.'s shooting death stuns acquaintances

"I just keep asking, 'How could this have happened?' I don't think he ever could have hurt anyone," said Laura Yanez, who had been under the care of Ruiz — a longtime Tucson obstetrician-gynecologist — for more than 20 years, including the birth of her baby.

"He did so much for me. He was always there, at any time of the day or night when you needed him. He even saw me when I had no insurance and couldn't pay him. He saved me and my family so many times.

"When I found out about his (death), I had to come home — this has affected me so badly. I am so sorry, so sad for what he must have been going through.

"He was a man with a great heart. I'll never find another doctor like him."

Hers is just one of the many stories about the compassion, charisma and medical excellence of Ruiz that poured forth throughout the aftermath of the shooting at his West Side home.

It was a single shot by a deputy — identified as Pima County SWAT team member Sgt. John Stuckey — from 30 yards away that killed Ruiz, 56, after he voiced suicidal threats and barricaded himself inside his home with a handgun.

This is the second time this year that Stuckey — a 12-year veteran — has shot and killed a man in the line of duty.

Ruiz had fired the handgun inside his house, then pointed it at Stuckey, after which he was shot, Pima County Sheriff's Department officials said. The SWAT team had responded to a 911 call from Ruiz's wife, who said he'd pointed the gun at his head.

Hints of marital strife also surfaced within the reactions of those who knew and worked with the doctor, along with strains at work in the last couple of years.

But colleagues said Ruiz was doing what he loved best — delivering babies — and had shown no signs of outward stress, much less suicidal tendencies, in their encounters with him in recent days.

"That's what's so puzzling. We have no idea what led to this. That he was in this kind of crisis was not apparent," said Dr. Palmer Evans, also a longtime obstetrician-gynecologist who's known Ruiz throughout his career. Evans is now chief medical officer at Tucson Medical Center, where Ruiz worked.

"Just last week, I saw him coming in the door. We hugged and greeted each other. It was just like old times with him."

After maintaining a private practice in obstetrics and gynecology for some 25 years, Ruiz became a hospitalist in his specialty at TMC about 18 months ago, working with the perinatologists who practiced there.

"I'm sure it was so he could control his hours a little better," Evans said. "As we get older, it's harder to do all the middle-of-the-night calls. This was a way to get more time with his family.

"But I think he was excited about doing that. He was delivering babies, seeing patients, making rounds in the hospital, taking care of moms and babies.

"This was an outstanding physician, just a wonderful person and an excellent clinician. You never had a doubt about the superb care he gave his patients. We are just grieving a tremendous amount because of this loss, and how it happened."

The Monday incident started about 1 p.m., when Ruiz's wife called 911 and said her husband was holding a gun to his head at his home in the 1500 block of North Coral Bells Drive. She then left the house, said sheriff's Lt. Michael O'Connor.

Ruiz's wife had called 911 the day before, saying he was acting suicidal, O'Connor said. Ruiz told the responding deputy he wasn't suicidal. The deputy decided Ruiz wasn't a threat to himself or others and left.

After the call the next day, deputies and a SWAT team arrived in the Los Arroyos del Oeste neighborhood and heard several shots from inside the house, O'Connor said.

A short time later, Ruiz appeared in a patio area with a handgun and fired again. Deputies didn't fire at that time because Ruiz's gun wasn't aimed at them, O'Connor said.

Still he was an "active shooter" who posed a grave threat to the deputies, O'Connor said.

"It wasn't until some time later, when he brings the gun up and points it at Stuckey, that (the sergeant) fired," he said.

Before the shooting, a deputy tried to negotiate with Ruiz. Occasionally, he'd calm down but then would become agitated again, authorities said.

Ruiz disobeyed the deputies' commands to drop his weapon and pointed the gun through a gate toward Stuckey, who was behind a patrol car about 30 yards away, O'Connor said.

Stuckey fired once. The standoff lasted about 45 minutes.

The Ruiz family has declined to comment. Reached by telephone Tuesday, his widow sobbed as she said, "He was a wonderful man," and then hung up.

This was apparently Ruiz's second marriage, colleagues said. He had two grown children from his first marriage, and at least two from this marriage.

"He was a wonderful man, very much a family man. He was very proud of his family and his children," said Alexandria Massaro, 27, a Ruiz patient since she was a teen. He delivered her first child last year.

"I never saw any signs of this kind of trouble. He was always so happy and upbeat, joking around. He had a great sense of humor, and he was so great with his patients," she said.

"My whole family is just sick with shock about this," she said. "This is so horribly sad. We've lost such a good doctor."

A former colleague described Ruiz as an Erik Estrada look-alike — "just as outgoing and charming" as the actor.

"He was such a charismatic person, and very kind to his patients," said Dr. John Moseley, a dermatologist who worked with Ruiz at the Thomas-Davis Clinic during the 1990s.

"When I saw this, I reread that name six times. It was 'Oh my God, this can't be.' "

"He was one of the most gifted gynecologic surgeons in town — he was amazing, outstanding," said Dr. Sheldon Marks, a Tucson urologist who also worked with Ruiz at the now-closed Thomas-Davis.

"I knew that the patients I sent to him would get the very best of care. He was just the nicest guy in the world. If you needed his help at 2 a.m., he would be there.

"There was no indication of instability, no history of depression. This has caught everyone by surprise."

The shooting earlier this year involving Stuckey occurred Jan. 7, after Glen C. Pearson, 62, called authorities from a Green Valley home. He said he'd killed his mother and would shoot the first officer who responded.

After deputies arrived, Pearson appeared at the door with a cell phone and a large, bloody kitchen knife. He pointed the phone in a manner that suggested he might have a gun, authorities said, and Stuckey shot him in the head. He died a day later.

Deputies found the body of Pearson's mother inside.

Authorities determined that shooting was justified, a sheriff's spokeswoman said.

Stuckey also was one of three deputies involved in the shooting death of a 19-year-old Tucsonan in April 1996. The deputies fired at the man after he broke into a Northwest Side house and wounded a woman and her dog with a pistol. Stuckey was cleared of wrongdoing in that shooting as well, O'Connor said.

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