Topline
Tulsa Police said Thursday a gunman who killed four at a Tulsa hospital complex Wednesday was a patient of one of the doctors killed in the attack, and he had blamed the surgeon for back pain following a surgery he performed last month.
Police respond to the scene of a mass shooting at St. Francis Hospital on June 1, 2022 in Tulsa, … [+]
Key Facts
Tulsa Police Chief Wendell Franklin said during a press conference that Dr. Preston Phillips had performed back surgery on the suspect, Michael Louis, on May 19, and Louis had repeatedly called the office in the days following the procedure complaining of pain.
Franklin said investigators found a letter on the body of the suspect that “made it clear” he came in with the intent to kill Phillips and “anyone who got in his way.”
Louis called the office on the day of the shooting asking for additional treatment, and purchased a semi-automatic AR-15 style rifle around 2 p.m. from a local gun store, Franklin said.
Police started receiving 911 calls of a shooter in the Natalie Building of the St. Francis Hospital complex at 4:52 p.m., and arrived on the scene around 4:56 p.m.
Louis died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound around 4:58 p.m. as officers started working to clear the five-story building.
The other three people killed in the shooting were Dr. Stephanie Husen, receptionist Amanda Green and patient William Love, Franklin said.
Crucial Quote
“Dr. Phillips was the consummate gentleman,” Dr. Cliff Robertson, a family practice physician at St. Francis said during the press conference. “Not only is it a shock, it is the ultimate loss for Saint Francis and for Tulsa.”
Big Number
37. That’s how many shell casings officers recovered from the crime scene, Franklin said.
Tangent
The Tulsa murders come just over two weeks after an 18-year-old man allegedly walked into a supermarket in Buffalo, N.Y., and killed 10 people in what authorities have called a racist attack, and just over a week after a gunman killed 19 students and two teachers at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.
Further Reading
Assault-Style Firearm Found At Tulsa Hospital Bought Same Day As Shooting (Forbes)
4 Killed In Oklahoma Hospital Shooting, Tulsa Police Say (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/annakaplan/2022/06/02/tulsa-shooting-suspect-killed-doctor-he-blamed-for-back-pain-and-anyone-who-got-in-his-way-police-say/