Everything we know about Dr. Lindley Dodson, the woman killed in Texas hostage situation
Award-winning pediatric doctor shot and killed Tuesday night
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Police identified a doctor who worked at the Children’s Medical Group as the victim in a deadly SWAT standoff Tuesday night in central Austin.
Dr. Lindley Dodson was found dead inside the pediatric office after a SWAT team breached the doors of the building, ending a 6-hour standoff. She was a pediatrician at the office operated by Ascension Seton Dell Children’s Medical Center.
She is survived by her husband, her two daughters and her son.
Dodson, 43, grew up in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and completed her undergraduate degree in chemistry at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia, where she graduated magna cum laude, her LinkedIn profile says. She attended medical school at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in New Orleans.
“We are shocked at the tragic loss of Lindley, and our hearts go out to Katherine, Paul, Drew, and the entire family,” said LSU Interim President Tom Galligan. “Words fail us, but we offer our good thoughts, sympathy, and prayers to our friends and colleague.”
She completed her residency at Vanderbilt University Children’s Hospital in Nashville, Tennessee, and was certified by the American Board of Pediatrics.
She joined Children’s Medical Group’s office in 2017, according to its website. Her LinkedIn profile said she was also a partner at CMG.
Before coming to work in Austin, she was a Harvard Medical School instructor and was an urgent care doctor at Children’s Hospital Boston following her residency in Nashville. For 10 years, she worked at Dell Children’s Hospital in Austin and was named the hospital’s top pediatric doctor in 2012 and 2017.
She was named a “Rising Star” by the Texas Super Doctors for three consecutive years, 2017-2019.
Multiple people replied to tweets by NewsNation affiliate KXAN reporter Jody Barr, saying Dodson was their child’s doctor or that they knew her personally.
“Such a massive and heartbreaking loss for our community,” one tweet said.
Another person who tweeted said she cared for his two sons, and the news was “an absolute tragedy.”
“We are absolutely devastated and shaken,” they added.
Karen Shafrir Vladeck, an Austin lawyer and friend of Dodson, said she was an “absolute shining light,” and organized a tribute thread on Twitter for people to share their favorite memories of Dodson.
“Dr. Dodson was a light. An absolute shining light. She walked into the exam room with a broad but sympathetic smile on her face every time you were there,” she tweeted. “She made you feel like your child’s illness was the only one that mattered in that moment, even though you knew there was a line of other kids and parents waiting anxiously to see her. She always made you feel important and heard.”
Texas Rep. Lloyd Doggett said Dodson cared for two of his grandchildren and offered his condolences on Twitter.