Police: Tulsa gunman targeted surgeon he blamed for pain
A gunman who killed his surgeon and three other people at a Tulsa medical office blamed the doctor for his continuing pain after a recent back operation and bought an AR-style rifle just hours before the rampage, police said Thursday.
The patient called the clinic repeatedly complaining of pain and specifically targeted the doctor who performed the surgery, then killed himself as police arrived, Tulsa Police Chief Wendell Franklin said.
That physician, Dr. Preston Phillips, was killed Wednesday, along with Dr. Stephanie Husen, receptionist Amanda Glenn and visitor William Love, police said. The attack occurred on the campus of Saint Francis Health System in Tulsa. The chief identified the shooter as Michael Louis, 45, of Muskogee, Okla.
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, N.Y. The recent Memorial Day weekend saw multiple mass shootings nationwide, including at an outdoor festival in Taft, Okla., 45 miles from Tulsa, even as single-death incidents accounted for most gun fatalities.
Louis carried a letter that said he was targeting Phillips, 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,” Franklin said. “He blamed Dr. Phillips for the ongoing pain following the surgery.”
Franklin said Phillips performed the surgery on May 19 and Louis was released from the hospital on May 24.
Phillips, 59, was an orthopedic surgeon with an interest in spinal surgery and joint reconstruction, according to a profile on the clinic’s website.
Husen was 48 and Glenn was 40, officials said.
Love, a 73-year-old retired Army sergeant, was a patient at the clinic but that day he was accompanying his wife, Deborah, for her six-month checkup, said their daughter, Karen Denise Love.
Police have received reports that Love held a door shut in hopes of allowing others to flee from the gunman through another door, Franklin said in response to reporters’ questions.
Police believe Louis bought his weapons legally, Franklin said. Louis bought an AR-style semi-automatic rifle on the afternoon of the shooting and a handgun on Sunday, the police chief said.