A gunman killed his surgeon and three others at a Tulsa The medical office blamed the doctor for his continued pain following recent back surgery and for purchasing an AR-style rifle just hours before the riot, police said on Thursday. Five.
Police Chief Wendell Franklin said: “The patient repeatedly called the clinic complaining of pain and specifically targeted the doctor performing the surgery, then killed himself when police arrived.
Dr. Preston Phillips was killed Wednesday, along with Dr. Stephanie Husen, receptionist Amanda Glenn and visitor William Love, police said. The attack happened on the campus of the Saint Francis Health System in Tulsa. The head identified the shooter as Michael Louis, 45, of Muskogee, Oklahoma.
It is the latest in a series of mass shootings in the United States including the deadly school shooting in Uvalde, Texasand an attack on a supermarket in Buffalo, New York. Recent Memorial Day weekend saw multiple mass shootings across the country, including at an outdoor festival in Taft, Oklahoma, 45 miles from Tulsa, even as single shootings occurred. accounts for most gun deaths.
Chairperson Joe Biden plans to talk about the killings in an evening speech and call on Congress to pass gun restrictions.
Louis brought a letter saying he was targeting Phillips, Franklin said. The letter “makes it clear that he came with the intention of killing Dr. Phillips and anyone who stood in his way,” Franklin said. “He blamed Dr Phillips for the constant pain after the surgery.”
Franklin said Phillips performed the surgery on May 19 and Louis was discharged on May 24.
He said Louis called the doctor’s office “several times over a few days” reporting he was still in pain and saw Phillips on Tuesday for “additional treatment.” Louis called the office back Wednesday “complaining about back pain and wanting more assistance,” he said.
A phone number listed for a Michael Louis address in Muskogee went down on Thursday.
Phillips, 59, is an orthopedic surgeon with an interest in spine surgery and joint reconstruction, according to records on the clinic’s website. He served as the lead physician for Tulsa’s WNBA team before the franchise moved out of state, according to Tulsa World.
Dr. Cliff Robertson, president and CEO of Saint Francis Health System, called Phillips “a fine gentleman” and “a man we should all strive to emulate”. He said the three employees killed were “the best three in the whole world” and that they “didn’t deserve to die this way.”
Husen is 48 years old and Glenn is 40 years old, officials said.
Love, a 73-year-old retired army sergeant, was a patient at the clinic but that day he went with his wife, Deborah, for a six-month check on her, their daughter, Karen Denise. Love said.
Police received reports that Love had closed one door in the hope of allowing others to flee the gunman through another door, Franklin said in response to reporters’ questions.
Karen Love said her parents were in the exam room with one of Phillips’ assistants when the pair heard a commotion outside. When they realized it was gunshots, Karen Love said her father grabbed the doorknob from inside the room.
“When they heard this guy go up and down the hallway, they knew it was gunfire,” Karen Love said. “They thought it was someone just shooting people. My dad tried to keep the door as good as he could. “
Police believe Louis purchased his weapon legally, Franklin said. Louis purchased an AR-style semi-automatic rifle the afternoon of the shooting and a shotgun Sunday, the sheriff said.
Franklin praised law enforcement, 911 and emergency operators for their “immediate response” to Wednesday’s attack. Police responded to the call about three minutes after the dispatcher received the report at 4:52 p.m. and contacted the gunman at 5:01 p.m., authorities said Wednesday.
Franklin said police believe Louis shot himself about 39 seconds after the first officers entered the building.
“Our training made us act immediately without hesitation,” he said. “That’s exactly what the officers do and that’s what they did in this case.”
The time it took for police officers in Uvalde, Texas, to engage the gunman in the deadly Robb Elementary school shooting last week has become a major focus of that investigation. Officers waited more than an hour to break into the classroom where the 18-year-old gunman attacked with an AR-style semi-automatic rifle, killing 19 children and two teachers.
Democratic leaders have stepped up their calls for more gun restrictions since the Uvalde shootings, while Republicans are emphasizing more security at schools. The split reflects partisan divides that have hampered action in Congress and many state capitals on how to best respond to the record high number of gun-related deaths in the US.
Democrats in the Oklahoma House of Representatives on Thursday called for a special session to consider gun safety legislation, but that is unlikely in a GOP-controlled Legislature that has pushed for years to relax arms restrictions.
Republican Governor Kevin Stitt, who is running for re-election, said last week after the Texas shooting that it was too early to talk about weapons policy. An arms advocate group, the 2nd Amendment Association of Oklahoma, is an influential force on the state Capitol, and the first bill that Stitt signed into law after taking office in 2019 was a measure. allows most adults to openly carry a gun without a prior record. test or training.
Since January, there have been 12 mass shootings that have left four or more people dead, according to The Associated Press / USA TODAY / Northeastern University’s mass murder database. The database says those shootings left 76 people dead, including 35 adults and children, in Buffalo, Uvalde and Tulsa. The death toll does not include the suspects in the shooting.
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