Yue Chen was arrested and charged with attempted murder. (Police handout)
PALO ALTO, Calif (AP) - A terminally ill cancer patient has been arrested and charged with attempted murder after he traveled to the San Francisco Bay Area to kill three doctors who had treated him, authorities said Tuesday.
Yue Chen, who also planned to kill himself, was angry the doctors had treated him like a "laboratory monkey," according to a suicide note found by police, the Mercury News reported.
The 58-year-old's family reported him missing on May 31 and responding officers found evidence of the plot at his Visalia home. They then alerted the doctors and Bay Area officials.
Chen failed to find any of the doctors, got lost and may have been on his way back home when he was arrested in San Jose later that day by the California Highway Patrol, the Palo Alto Police Department said.
The names of the hospitals were redacted in the police report, but prosecutors said one of the doctors worked at UCSF Medical Center. Another UCSF physician and at least one Stanford Health Care doctor also were targeted, the report said.
Officials found two loaded handguns in his car as well as maps with directions to the doctors' homes.
After his arrest, Chen told detectives he believes he was being used for research purposes.
"They only hurt me," Chen reportedly told detectives. "They hurt me both hospitals. They really screw my life, or the doctors lie to me. Hospitals, they all cover for each other."
Chen was charged in Santa Clara County with three felony counts of premeditated attempted murder.