Dr. Peter Marvit, NIH researcher, fatally shot near Maryland home, police say

(CBS) BALTIMORE, Md. - Police are searching for the gunman who fatally shot a researcher for the National Institutes of Health on Monday in what they say may have been an attempted robbery, CBS Baltimore reports.

Baltimore police said a shooting was reported around 10:30 p.m. in the Herring Run Park area and officers found 51-year-old Dr. Peter Marvit outside his car with gunshot wounds to the upper body. He was taken to Johns Hopkins Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Marvit was killed as he got out of his car after a rehearsal with the Baltimore Choral Arts near his home, CBS Baltmore reported. Police said Marvit lived about four blocks from where he was shot.

NIH spokeswoman Amanda Fine said Marvit was a contractor with clinicaltrials.gov. The NIH service provides information for locating federally and privately supported clinical trials for a wide range of diseases and conditions.

"That that would be taken from us, it's just so hurtful and sad," said Tom Hall, choral director and one of the last people to see Marvit. "We have been robbed of a great friend, a great human who was all about that which was good in the world."