COLLIERVILLE, Tenn. — Collierville Police Chief Dale Lane says Campbell Clinic employees may have saved lives during the shooting that left a respected surgeon dead.  

In a one-on-one interview with WREG, Lane opens up about the tragedy inside the Campbell Clinic that claimed the life of beloved orthopedic surgeon Dr. Ben Mauck.

“Our main thoughts right now are to the family of Dr. Mauck and the employees at Campell Clinic,” Lane said. “It’s absolutely a tragedy. Here we see a man who’s giving everything to the community.”

Tuesday, police officers got a call around 2 p.m. about a shooter inside an exam room.

“Their [officers’] main focus was to go to the shooter,” Lane said. “So, they’re going into the building. The second group of officers, as they’re approaching, are receiving information that he’s run from the building. Less than five minutes they had him in custody.”

The suspected gunman is 29-year-old Larry Pickens, one of Mauck’s patients.

“We know that he was there to be treated. We found out through the investigation that he was involved in some kind of incident in Germantown earlier this past week, but this is the first time he’s come on our radar,” Lane said.

Lane says Mauck had treated Pickens for a couple of years. Pickens is now charged with first-degree murder and aggravated assault.

Lane says the alleged weapon used in the shooting was purchased legally and just days ago.

“He purchased it on July 3, and there was nothing that prevented him from making that purchase at the time,” Lane said.

Police reports show Pickens had previous run-ins with Memphis Police, including an attempted murder charge, however, it did not show up on Pickens’ record in a Shelby County Criminal Court database.

Germantown Police released records indicating Pickens had been barred from a different location of Campbell Clinic just a few days prior to the Collierville shooting.

“There are some other issues, some other contacts with law enforcement in the past that we’re going back and looking at,” Lane said.

As for the healthcare workers at the clinic, many had participated in active shooter training.

“There were individuals who were taking charge who were ensuring that all patients were accounted for, all employees were accounted for, and moving them into safe areas because they believed at the time that this was an active shooter,” Lane said.

Employees shared information about the shooter as police got to the clinic.

“They’re giving us a great description of the individual and even at that point prior to us making it there, they were already putting his name out. They knew this guy. They knew him from other appointments,” Lane said.

Lane says that teamwork saved lives, and he believes justice will be served.

“I’m just thankful there wasn’t a gunfight between us and the suspect in the end and thankful we were able to get him into custody with no further violence,” Lane said. “I think the appropriate bond in this case was given. One-point-two million is very extensive and it protects our community.”

The community is shaken by gun violence, but Lane says it shouldn’t lose hope.

“Don’t live in fear and just go about your daily lives,” Lane said.