A Wake-up call from the Chairside: Violence Can Strike Anywhere

by Jeff Young

Shared by an oral surgeon in small-town America.

I practice in a quiet community of about 16,000—your classic two-horse town, 20 miles from where I live. As a former firefighter, I trained or worked alongside many of the local first responders. That history pays dividends: when I dial 911, fire or police are on scene in under 90 seconds.

Except once.

A patient returned for a post-op check two weeks after I’d extracted all his teeth and fitted him with dentures. He demanded oxycodone. My policy is ironclad—I prescribe it only during major surgery, never weeks later. I refused.

He snapped. Like a switch flipped, he went full Tasmanian Devil: overturned furniture, shattered equipment, carved a trail of destruction straight to the lobby exit. He bolted to the parking lot, raged some more, then peeled out.

My office manager had already called PD. Officers arrived seconds after he vanished down the road.

He drove home. Shot his wife, daughter, and the daughter’s boyfriend in the head. Doused the bodies in gasoline. Burned the house to the ground. Fled to the nearby foothills.

He’s still out there. Sightings pop up at local convenience stores when he resurfaces for supplies.

The takeaway for every one of us: This isn’t inner-city chaos or a war zone. It’s small-town America. He could just as easily have turned that rage on my clinic—on my staff, my patients, me.

Anywhere people gather, lethal violence is always one bad decision away. Train like it. Plan like it. Because “it can’t happen here” is a myth.