US doctor gunned down in Afghan hospital ‘always wanted to be a missionary’

He came from halfway around the world to save children’s lives — and was killed in cold blood for his efforts.

A Chicago doctor was among three Americans shot dead at a Christian hospital in Kabul Thursday by a government guard whose job was to protect him — the latest violence targeting unarmed civilians in Afghanistan.

“They were not the people carrying guns. They did not have military uniforms. They came here under immense pressure and were here only to serve the people of Afghanistan,” Afghan Health Minister Suriya Dalil said. “This was an inhumane and brutal action, and, unfortunately, will impact our health services.”

One of the victims at Cure Hospital, which provides medical care to poor children, was identified as Dr. Jerry Umanos.

Umanos, a pediatrician, practiced in inner-city Chicago before moving to Afghanistan in 2005, said officials at Lawndale Christian Health Center in Chicago, where he also worked.

His mother-in-law, Angie Schuitema, called him a man of faith.

“He was doing what he wanted to do. He thanked God for allowing him to help people there,” she told the Chicago Tribune.

“He always wanted to be a missionary, and he felt this was one way he could do it.”

Umanos’ wife, Jan Schuitema, had taught at the international school in Kabul for two years before returning to Chicago, where she is a teacher, Angie said.

Colleagues said Umanos had worried about violence in Kabul.

“He was obviously concerned,” Dr. Art Jones told the Tribune. “At the same time, you can’t count the number of children that Jerry’s impacted, the lives he’s saved on his own, and with the doctors he trained. That’s who he was.”

Umanos’ three grown children live in the US, colleagues said.

The other victims, who were not identified, were a father and son visiting Umanos, Afghan officials said. An American nurse was also wounded.

The Afghan guard had opened fire just before 9 a.m. as staff was arriving at Cure Hospital, run by a Pennsylvania-based charity.

Identified only as Ainuddin, he blasted his way into an inner courtyard before he was shot and arrested. Hospital staff later performed surgery on him.

Afghan police said the motive was unknown, but the incident came amid increasing attacks on civilians in the country.

Twenty foreigners have died in such attacks in the recent weeks before and after the Afghan presidential election. The Taliban has claimed credit for much of the bloodshed.