Four people were killed Wednesday in a shooting at a medical center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, police said, the latest in a wave of deadly gun violence occurring across the United States.
According to authorities, a gunman opened fire Wednesday afternoon at the St. Francis Health System campus, shooting multiple people using at least two firearms. Authorities responded to a call after dispatchers received the report and made contact with the gunman, Tulsa Police Department Deputy Chief Eric Dalgleish said.
During a news conference, Dalgleish confirmed the number of dead and said the shooter also was dead, apparently from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Wednesday’s attack comes after two 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.
Here’s what we know about the deadly shooting in Tulsa:
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Where did the attack take place?
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 Tusla.
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: Tulsa shooting ‘wasn’t random’
At least four people were killed in the shooting besides the suspected gunman, and several others were injured, police said. Authorities, who have not released the identities of the victims or a possible motive, described the medical complex as a ‘catastrophic scene.”
“It wasn’t random,” said Tulsa Police Capt. Richard Meulenberg, according to The New York Times. “This wasn’t an individual who just decided he wanted to go find a hospital full of random people. He deliberately made a choice to come here and his actions were deliberate.”
Dalgleish said the shooter had a rifle or “long gun,” and a handgun, and it appeared both weapons were fired at the scene.
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Shooting may be connected to bomb threat in Muskogee, Oklahoma?
Authorities were searching a residence thought to belong to the suspect Wednesday night after Tulsa police said the shooter may have planted a bomb inside a home in Muskogee, Oklahoma, about 50 miles southeast of Tulsa.
“At this time we have evacuated the house and have notified everyone in the area to stay inside their homes,” the Muskogee Police public information officer Lynn Hamlin said.
An Oklahoma Highway Patrol bomb squad later cleared the home, finding no devices inside, Hamlin said.
Authorities provide timeline of attack
Police said during a news conference Wednesday that dispatchers first received a call of an active shooter in the Natalie Medical Building at the St. Francis Health System campus at 4:52 p.m.
Four minutes later, police said officers arrived at the location. By 5:01 p.m., authorities say officers made contact with the victims and the shooting suspect after hearing gunshots on the second floor of the building.
“I was very happy with what we know so far regarding the response of our officers,” Dalgleish said.
‘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: Jeanine Santucci, USA TODAY; Nolan Clay and Dana Branham, The Oklahoman; The Associated Press