Armed man intercepted on way to murder Bay Area doctors, cops say

Yue Chen was charged with attempted murder. Yue Chen was charged with attempted murder. Photo: Palo Alto Police Department / Palo Alto Police Department Photo: Palo Alto Police Department / Palo Alto Police Department Image 1 of / 28 Caption Close Armed man intercepted on way to murder Bay Area doctors, cops say 1 / 28 Back to Gallery

An armed man on an alleged mission to murder three of his doctors in the Bay Area was busted last week while en route from the Central Valley, officials said Tuesday.

Yue Chen, 58, rented a Nissan Rogue, packed up his two semi-automatic handguns and started off from his hometown of Visalia (Tulare County) on Wednesday with a plan to execute three physicians at their homes in the Bay Area, Palo Alto police officials said.

Police said Chen was bent on killing the doctors because he was upset about “a medical condition and medical treatment” he received from them.

Authorities would not elaborate on the circumstances of Chen’s condition out of concern for his privacy.

Once police were alerted about Chen’s alleged nefarious plan, they put the word out to several jurisdictions around the state, while alerting the doctors in case he showed up at their homes. Police would not say how they learned of the alleged plot.

Palo Alto police got a call around 7:45 p.m. Wednesday from the California Highway Patrol, saying they had stopped the Nissan on Highway 101 near Hellyer Avenue in San Jose.

Chen was driving and had his two legally owned handguns with high-capacity magazines, according to police. The CHP arrested Chen without incident and took him to a hospital “for treatment related to his medical condition,” officials said.

Chen was discharged from the hospital that evening and booked in Santa Clara County’s Main Jail. He was later charged with three felony counts of attempted murder by the district attorney’s office.

Evan Sernoffsky is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: esernoffsky@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @EvanSernoffsky