The patient repeatedly called the clinic complaining of pain and specifically targeted the doctor who performed the surgery, then committed suicide when police arrived, Tulsa Police Chief Wendell Franklin said.
The doctor, Dr. Preston Phillips, was killed Wednesday, along with Dr. Stephanie Husen, receptionist Amanda Glenn and visitor William Love, police said.
Dr. Preston Phillips and Dr. Stephanie Husen were killed in a mass shooting inside a Tulsa medical building. (Saint Francis Health System via AP) Receptionist Amanda Glenn and veteran William Love also died in the shooting. Love sacrificed himself to save his wife by keeping a door closed. This gave him time to escape through another door. (Supplied)
The attack took place on the Saint Francis Health System campus in Tulsa. The boss identified the shooter as Michael Louis, 45, of Muskogee, Oklahoma.
Memorial Day last weekend saw several mass shootings across the country, including an open-air festival in Taft, Oklahoma, more than 70 miles from Tulsa, despite incidents of a single death accounted for most of the deadly weapons.
This photo provided by the Muskogee County Sheriff’s Office shows Michael Louis. Police say Louis, who killed his surgeon and three others at a Tulsa doctor’s office, blamed the doctor for his continued pain after a recent back operation. (Muskogee County Sheriff’s Office via AP) (AP)
Louis was carrying a letter saying he was pointing at Phillips, Franklin said.
The letter “made it clear that he came in with the intent to kill Dr. Phillips and anyone who gets in his way,” Franklin said.
“He blamed Dr. Phillips for continued pain after surgery.”
Franklin said Phillips underwent surgery on May 19 and Louis was discharged from the hospital on May 24.
The sun rises on the campus of St. Francis on Thursday, June 2, 2022 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. (AP) Emergency personnel respond to a shooting at the Natalie Medical Building in Tulsa, Oklahoma. (AP)
He said Louis called the doctor’s office “several times over several days” reporting that he was still in pain and saw Phillips on Tuesday for “additional treatment.”
Louis called the office again on Wednesday “complaining of back pain and wishing for further help,” he said.
A phone number listed for a Michael Louis address in Muskogee did not work on Thursday.
Phillips, 59, was an orthopedic surgeon interested in spine surgery and joint reconstruction, according to a profile on the clinic’s website. He once served as chief physician for the Tulsa 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 “consummate gentleman” and “a man we should all strive to imitate.”
He said the three employees who were killed were “the three best people in the world” and that “they didn’t deserve to die that way.”
Husen was 48 and Glenn was 40, officials said.
Love, a 73-year-old retired sergeant in the army, was a patient at the clinic, but that day he accompanied his wife, Deborah, on his six-month review, said his daughter, Karen Denise Love.
Police have received reports that Love was keeping a door closed in hopes of allowing others to flee the gunman through another door, Franklin said in response to questions from reporters.
Karen Love said her parents were in an exam room with one of Phillips’ assistants when the couple heard the commotion outside. When they realized they were being shot, Karen Love said her father grabbed the door handle from inside the room.
“When they heard this guy going up and down the hallway, they knew it was a shot,” Karen Love said.
“They thought he was just shooting people. My dad was trying to hold the door as best he could.”
Police believe Louis legally bought his weapons, Franklin said. Louis bought an AR-style semi-automatic rifle in the afternoon of the shooting and a gun on Sunday, the police chief 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 dispatchers 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 was shot about 39 seconds after first officers entered the building.
Police in front of a Tulsa hospital where a mass shooting took place. (Tulsa Police)
“Our training led us to take immediate action without hesitation,” he said. “That’s exactly what the agents are doing and that’s what they did in this case.”
The time it took police officers in Uvalde, Texas, to confront the gunman during last week’s deadly school shooting at Robb Elementary School has become a key focus of ‘this research.
Democratic leaders have stepped up their calls for more gun restrictions since the Uvalde shooting, while Republicans are emphasizing safer schools. The split reflects a partisan split that has hampered action in Congress and many state chapters on how best to respond to a record number of gun-related deaths in the U.S.
The teacher killed in the Texas massacre said goodbye to her husband
Oklahoma House Democrats called for a special session Thursday to consider gun safety legislation, but that is unlikely to happen in a GOP-controlled legislature that has been pushing for years to ease gun restrictions. of fire.
Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt, who is running for re-election, said last week after the Texas shooting that it was too early to talk about gun policy. A pro-gun group, the Oklahoma Second Amendment Association, is an influential force in the state Capitol, and the first bill Stitt signed after taking office in 2019 was a measure that allows most adults to carry firearms openly without the necessary background. control or training.
Since January, there have been 12 shootings in which four or more people have been killed, according to The Associated Press / USA TODAY / Noreastern University’s massacre database.
The shootings left 76 dead, including 35 adults and children in Buffalo, Uvalde and Tulsa, according to the database. The death toll does not include the suspects in the shootings.