Source: J Pat Carter / Getty
UPDATED: 12:45 P.M. ET with gunman’s name and motive:
The gunman in the nation’s most recent deadly mass shooting has been identified as an apparently disgruntled medical patient who sought revenge on Wednesday against a doctor by way of gun violence at a medical clinic in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Law enforcement officials say Michael Louis targeted Dr. Preston Phillips because of lingering pain following a surgical procedure performed by the orthopedist when he entered the clinic and began firing. Louis’ name was first made public by reporters on social media.
The Associated Press reported that Phillips was among the four people killed before Louis died by suicide.
“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,” Tulsa Police Chief Wendell Franklin said Thursday. “He blamed Dr. Phillips for the ongoing pain following the surgery.”
The shooting took place on the second floor of a medical office where an orthopedic clinic is located on the campus of Saint Francis Health System.
Original story:
Tulsa, Oklahoma is the latest city that now has to deal with the heartbreak and trauma left by a mass shooting.
A gunman killed four people and then himself on Wednesday when he opened fire inside the Natalie Medical Building on the campus of St. Francis Hospital.
So far in 2022, there have been 233 mass shootings in the US.
According to reports, Police responded within minutes to calls about a man armed with a rifle and a handgun on the hospital campus. Officers arrived on the scene to gunshots from inside the medical building, which directed police to the second floor where the shooting occurred.
Police found the suspect dead from self-inflicted gun wounds, along with a semiautomatic rifle and a semiautomatic pistol, the weapons officials believe he used in the attack. 10 people were injured in the incident, fortunately, their injuries were non-life-threatening. Authorities have not identified the gunman, but say he was a Black male between 35 and 40 years old.
“It was just madness inside, with hundreds of rooms and hundreds of people trying to get out of the building, said Tulsa Police Department Captain Richard Meulenberg in an interview with CNN.
Source: J Pat Carter / Getty
Investigators still haven’t released a motive, but believe this was no random act.
“He very purposefully went to this location, went to a very specific floor, and shot with very specific purpose,” said Meulenberg. “This was not a random shooting by this individual.”
Tulsa City Council Member Jamye Fowler has suggested that the gunman was looking for a specific physician when he entered the hospital, but couldn’t find the person he was looking for.
Witness accounts also suggest that the Tulsa hospital mass shooting was targeted at a certain individual.
Gannon Gill, a physician assistant at the hospital, told the New York Times that he escaped to the garage during the shooting when a couple told him they encountered the shooter.
“The shooter told him and his wife to leave and he was not there for him,” Mr. Gill told the New York Times. “You see this stuff on television or the news, but you don’t think it’s ever going to happen in your workplace.”
According to KTUL, the Tulsa Police Department warned the Muskogee Police Department of a possible bomb in a home within their jurisdiction that could be related to the shooting at Saint Francis Hospital. Muskogee Police searched the home, but no bomb was found.
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt stated via Twitter expressing his gratitude for the quick response from the first responders.
“I am grateful for the quick and brave actions of the Tulsa Police Department and other first responders who did their best to contain a terrible situation. I have offered Mayor G.T. Bynum any state resources that may be needed, and I ask all Oklahomans to come together in support of the Saint Francis Health System community and to grieve with those whose lives have been forever changed.”
The Tulsa shooting comes just a week after 19 students and two teachers were killed in Uvalde, Texas in the deadliest school shooting since Sandy Hook. Less than a month ago 10 Black people were killed in Buffalo after a shooter targeted folks shopping at the grocery store.
According to a Yahoo News/YouGov poll, 68% of Americans favor requiring criminal and mental background checks for all those buying guns, including at gun shows or private sales.
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