A gunman who fatally shot four people at Tulsa, Oklahoma, medical center targeted a doctor he blamed for the pain he was in after a recent back surgery, police said Thursday.
Tulsa Police Department Chief Wendell Franklin identified the four people killed in Wednesday’s mass shooting as Dr. Preston Phillips, Dr. Stephanie Husen, Amanda Glenn and William Love. Franklin said the gunman, identified as Michael Louis, recently had surgery and targeted Phillips, who performed the surgery.
“We also have a letter on the suspect, which made it clear that he came in with the intent to kill Dr. Phillips and anyone who got in his way,” Franklin said. “He blamed Dr. Phillips for the ongoing pain following the surgery.”
Franklin said the gunman, who died of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound, used two recently purchased firearms, including an AR-15 style rifle, in the Wednesday afternoon shooting at the St. Francis Health System campus.
Wednesday’s attack comes after high-profile shooting massacres in Buffalo, New York, where 10 Black people were killed, and Uvalde, Texas, where 19 children and two teachers were killed in May.
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Here’s what we know about the deadly shooting in Tulsa:
Who were the victims?
The victims of the shooting included two physicians, a receptionist and a patient, Franklin said Thursday. Police identified the victims as Dr. Preston Phillips, Dr. Stephanie Husen, Amanda Glenn and William Love.
The first victim officers found later died at the hospital. Officers soon found two more victim’s bodies: one next to the suspect, who had died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, and another in an open area near a nurse’s station, Franklin said.
As police searched the building, they found Phillips dead in an exam room.
Phillips was an orthopedic surgeon with an interest in spinal surgery and joint reconstruction, according to a profile on the clinic’s website. He once served as lead physician for Tulsa’s WNBA team before the franchise moved out of state, according to the Tulsa World.
Cliff Robertson, president and CEO of the Saint Francis Health System, called Phillips “a man who we should all strive to emulate.” Robertson said Phillips’ clinic often didn’t run exactly on time because “he will spend every minute with patients that he need,” seeing the work as his calling.
Robertson also called Husen “an incredible person.”
Amanda Glenn, who was a receptionist at the medical building, and William Love, who was there with a patient, were also killed in the shooting.
“It is the ultimate loss for St. Francis and Tulsa,” Robertson said. “The three best people in the entire world that are the most committed to doing what they do every day and taking care of others and didn’t deserve to die like that.”
Officials said there were “additional wounded patients” but did not provide more information about their conditions.
Authorities provide timeline leading up to attack
Franklin said during a news conference Thursday that Phillips performed back surgery on the gunman on May 19. After the shooter was released May 24, he called multiple times over several days complaining of pain and seeking additional treatment.
The gunman purchased a a .40-caliber Smith & Wesson pistol, from a pawn shop on Sunday. Two days later, the gunman saw Phillips for additional treatment.
Wednesday, the shooter called Phillips saying he was still having back pain. At 2 p.m. the same day, he purchased a semi-automatic AR-15-style rifle.
Franklin said police received the first 911 call about the shooting at 4:52 p.m. Wednesday from a person who was video chatting with a doctor in the building. Police received several more 911 calls about a shooting on the second floor of the Natalie Building on the campus of St. Francis Hospital.
Franklin said the first officer arrived four minutes after the first call was received.Officers announced their presence and heard a final gunshot at 4:58 p.m.
Law enforcement then searched the building, looking for victims and survivors. At 5:24 p.m. the Cherokee County Sheriff’s office called his department to report that a woman called their dispatcher saying her husband had killed several people at Phillips’ office, Franklin said.
Law enforcement remained at the scene until 3 a.m. Police said 30 .223-caliber casings from the rifle and seven .40-caliber casings from the handgun were found at the scene.
Tulsa shooter targeted doctor he ‘blamed’ for his post-surgery pain
Police said the gunman targeted Phillips, who had recently performed back surgery on him, but also “began firing at anyone who was in his way” when he entered the hospital. Franklin said a letter found on the suspect made it clear the gunman “blamed” Phillips for his continued back pain although the office was “receptive and responsive” to his complaints.
“There was clear motive. This was what he planned to do,” Franklin said. “That letter led us and told us the story.”
TULSA SHOOTER BLAMED DOCTOR:Then shot ‘anyone who got in his way,’ police say
VIOLENT IDENTITY:Why do mass shootings keep happening? Because this is what we’ve allowed America to become, USA TODAY Editorial member writes.
Where did the attack take place?
Tulsa Police Department Deputy Chief Eric Dalgleish said officers discovered the shooter and several victims on the second floor of the St. Francis Health System’s Natalie Building, about eight miles southeast of downtown Tulsa.
The Natalie Building houses an outpatient surgery center and a breast health center. Dalgleish said an orthopedic clinic also is located on the second floor.
The entire hospital locked down its campus Wednesday during the shooting.
Police clear home in Muskogee, Oklahoma, after possible bomb threat
An Oklahoma Highway Patrol bomb squad used dogs to clear a home in Muskogee after police were notified the hospital shooter may have left a bomb inside, the Muskogee Police public information officer said.
“No devices were found,” Lynn Hamlin said.
Tulsa police investigators arrived after that search “and took over the scene,” she said. Muskogee is about 50 miles southeast of Tulsa.
‘It’s surreal and aggravating’: Community reacts to the shooting
Community members waited to hear from their loved ones at the designated reunification area after the shooting Wednesday night.
Kevin Foristal, of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, said his wife was receiving outpatient therapy at the infusion center in the main hospital building at the time of the shooting.
He was “elated” to hear she was safe, but added: “There’s people out there where that’s not going to happen.”
Johnnie Munn arrived at the reunification site Wednesday night to help provide food, water and emotional support. The Tulsa-area native specializes in mass shooting response for the Red Cross as a senior disaster program manager.
He’s attended to victims at the site of the deadliest U.S. mass shooting in Las Vegas in 2017, where 60 people were killed. This time, he responded to a fatal attack in his hometown.
“It’s surreal and aggravating,” Munn said. “You’re like, ‘Why?’ … It’s no surprise that it’s happening more often.”
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Contributing: Christine Fernando and Jeanine Santucci, USA TODAY; Nolan Clay and Dana Branham, The Oklahoman; The Associated Press