Tulsa, Oklahoma: A gunman who shot five people, including himself, at an Oklahoma medical building on Wednesday (US time) had gone there to kill a doctor whom he blamed for his back pain. of surgery, authorities have revealed.
The suspect entered a building on the St. Francis of Tulsa health system campus with a semi-automatic weapon he had purchased earlier in the day and opened fire on anyone he found, Tulsa police chief said. Wendell Franklin during a press conference. Two doctors and two others died.
Emergency personnel are responding to a shooting at the St. Francis Health System campus earlier this week. Credit: Ian Maule / Tulsa World via AP
The suspect “came in with the intent to kill Dr. (Preston) Phillips and anyone who gets in his way,” Franklin said. Authorities found a letter about the gunman that made it clear that the attack was targeted.
Phillips, 59, the surgeon who treated Lewis, was killed along with Dr. Stephanie Husen, a 48-year-old sports medicine specialist.
Authorities named two other dead: Amanda Glenn, a receptionist, and William Love, a patient. The receptionist was initially identified as Amanda Green, but police later corrected the name on the department’s Facebook page.
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“They got in the way and (the suspect) killed them,” Franklin said. The gunman, who according to police was living in Muskogee, Oklahoma, about 50 miles from Tulsa, had been discharged from hospital on May 24 after back surgery, the head of the police. The man then called several times complaining of pain, Franklin said.
The shooting comes after two more massacres that have shocked Americans and reopened a lengthy debate over tightening controls on gun ownership and the role of mental health in epidemic of armed violence affecting the US.
“Enough is enough. This must be stopped. Hospitals are the backbone of our communities,” said Chip Kahn, executive director of the Federation of American Hospitals.