Tulsa shooting: Gunman who killed four people targeted surgeon he blamed for his back pain
A man who blamed his surgeon for continuing pain after a recent back operation killed the doctor and three others at a clinic in the United States.
The gunman carried out the shooting in Tulsa on Wednesday, before taking his own life, police said. He called the clinic repeatedly complaining of pain and specifically targeted the doctor who performed the surgery, Tulsa Police Chief Wendell Franklin said. That physician, Dr Preston Phillips, was shot along with another doctor, a receptionist and a patient. The attack occurred on the campus of Saint Francis Health System in Tulsa.
The chief identified the gunman as Michael Louis, 45, of Muskogee, Oklahoma.
It was the latest in a series of mass shootings in the United States, including the deadly school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, and an attack on a supermarket in Buffalo, New York.
The gunman in Tulsa carried a letter that said he was targeting Dr Phillips, Mr Franklin said. The letter “made it clear that he came in with the intent to kill Dr Phillips and anyone who got in his way,” he added.
”He blamed Dr Phillips for the ongoing pain following the surgery.”
Dr Cliff Robertson, president and CEO of Saint Francis Health System, called Phillips a “consummate gentleman” and “a man that we should all strive to emulate.”
He said the three employees who were killed were “the three best people in the entire world” and that they “didn’t deserve to die this way."
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The gunman bought an AR-style semi-automatic rifle on the afternoon of the shooting and a handgun on Sunday, Mr Franklin said, adding police believe he bought the weapons legally. Mr Franklin praised the law enforcement officers, 911 operators and emergency services for their “immediate response” to the attack.
Police responded to the call about three minutes after dispatchers received the report at 4.52pm local time and made contact with the gunman at 5.01pm, authorities said on Wednesday. “Our training led us to take immediate action without hesitation,” he said. “That’s exactly what officers do and that’s what they did in this instance.”
The length of time it took police officers in Uvalde, Texas, to engage the gunman during last week’s deadly school shooting at Robb Elementary School has become a key focus of that investigation.
Officers waited over an hour to breach the classroom where eight-year-old gunman Salvador Ramos attacked with an AR-style semi-automatic rifle, killing 19 children and two teachers.