A sense of grief, loss and shock hovered along Dobsonville’s Steve Kgane Street in Soweto on Tuesday where well-loved Dr Michael Isabelle was gunned down during a robbery at his medical practice.

Isabelle was shot in the head when three armed men entered his practice on Monday demanding laptops and phones. He succumbed to his injuries at Tshepo Themba Hospital in Dobsonville. 

While some patients took to social media to express their sorrow, others were to learn of the incident for the first time when they arrived at his practice that the man they knew as the “smiling good doctor” had lost his life to a senseless shooting. 

A woman who had brought her sick toddler to Isabella’s practice broke down when she learned from Sowetan that the doctor had died.  

Hardly able to say a word, the woman asked “Why?”, before she and her child turned back. She was the first of many who would find out that Isabelle had died.  

An unwell Busisiwe Radebe, who had been Isabelle’s patient for a year, arrived with her partner at the practice and confidently walked to the gate when Sowetan broke the news of the shooting to her. Her husband held his head in disbelief while she sobbed uncontrollably. 

“Why would anyone kill a person who was helping the community? This man was a good doctor. Very kind, but strict when he needed to be," she reacted. 

Radebe said she made Isabelle her first doctor of choice after he had helped her with her health complications last year after she could not get help at public facilities. 

“Dr Isabelle knew exactly who to call and where to refer me to. All the other doctors around knew him too, even doctors at Tshepo Themba Hospital. Since then I have be en coming here for any health issues. I wish I could sleep and wake up to all this being one bad dream.” 

Passersby who were walking along the busy main road were in disbelief and stopped to ask neighbours if the news of Isabelle’s death were true. Isabelle was known for also giving free house calls to the elderly in the area and would sometimes do a favour for patients whose medical aids refused to pay for certain medication and procedures.

Beauty Gcuza, who lives a street away from the practice, recalled how her three children, who are now in their 30s, were treated by Isabelle from when they were infants. 

“All my children were raised here. He nursed them and even today my youngest was meant to come here. What a good doctor. He did not deserve this.” 

While the practice remained locked since the incident, police officers visited the area   on Tuesday morning and spoke to neighbours.

A neighbour described Isabelle as a generous neighbour.  “He always had a smile. He greeted people and was so generous. Whenever people would cut grass for him, he would send them over to cut grass for us too.” 

The neighbour recalled how in broad daylight on Monday she heard four gunshots, which sounded like they were in her yard. She had earlier noticed a suspicious light-skinned man standing at a tree a few metres from her home.

She then heard gunshots around 2pm  and moments later, in an attempt to investigate, she looked into the doctor’s yard. 

“I saw the same guy fidgeting in one of the cars, a BMW, like he was looking for something.

“I learned that Dr Isabelle was shot and the car I had seen the man fidgeting in was the getaway car for the robbers.” 

Another neighbour who asked not to be named said she could not get over the tragedy.

“What happened is so tragic. This man bothered no one. He was kind, always greeted and he smiled at everyone he saw. In fact, he was a very popular doctor and you could tell by the number of people who came to see him.”

The neighbours said hardly 24 hours after Isabelle was shot, a nearby fuel station was robbed and the ATM bombed. “We are terrified. That’s why we keep our gates locked,” said a woman neighbour.

Police spokesperson Dimakatso Nevhuhulwi said three suspects entered the surgery under the pretext of needing the doctor’s medical assistance for their friend. Once the receptionist let them inside the consultation room they reportedly shot the doctor.

“They stole two cellphones before fleeing the scene. The victim was taken to the nearest medical care centre where he unfortunately succumbed to his injuries. No arrests have been made and police are still searching for the suspects,” said Nevhuhulwi.