Tulsa shooting: Everything we know about the hospital gunman
Michael Louis, the suspected shooter, is believed to have died by sucide after killing four at a hospital campus in Tulsa
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A gunman killed five people, including himself, on a hospital campus in Tulsa, Oklahoma on 1 June as the nation reels from a series of mass shootings across the US, including massacres in Uvalde, Texas and Buffalo, New York.
Officials described a “catastrophic scene” at the medical centre, where multiple people were found injured inside the Natalie Medical Building on the sprawling campus of Saint Francis Hospital in southeast Tulsa.
What we know about the gunman
Tulsa Police Department police chief Wendell Franklin named the suspected gunman as Michael Louis, who they believe also died of self-inflicted wounds.
He was a patient at the Tulsa medical clinic and was admitted to the facility on 19 May for back surgery. He reportedly called several times to complain about subsequent pain and sought “additional treatment”.
Louis bought an AR-15-style rifle hours before the attack. He also purchased a semi-automatic handgun on 29 May from a local pawn shop, the police chief said.
Deputy police chief Eric Dalgleish said the department received a call about the shooting at 4.52pm and arrived at the scene within three minutes. He said they made contact with the gunman minutes later at 5.01pm.
“The officers did hear shots in the building and that’s what directed them to the second floor,” he said.
The shooting occurred on the second floor of the Natalie Medical Building. Upon reaching the second floor, officers immediately found a victim and subsequently the body of the gunman, who appeared to have died by suicide.
Chief Franklin identified the victims of the shooting during a press conference on Thursday as Dr Preston Phillips, Dr Stephanie Husen, Amanda Glenn and William Love.
Dr Phillips and Dr Husen were physicians at the medical centre, while Glenn was employed as a receptionist. Love, authorities confirmed, was the only patient to be killed in the attack.
Tulsa mayor GT Bynum described the hospital campus as a “sacred ground” for their community.
“For decades, this campus has been a place where heroes come to work every day to save the lives of people in our community,” he said. “Right now, my thoughts are with the victims. If we want to have a policy discussion, that is something to be had in the future, but not tonight.”
The St Francis hospital locked down its campus on Wednesday after the shooting at the Natalie building, which houses an outpatient surgery centre and a breast health centre.
Philip Tankersley, 27, who was at the St Francis hospital, said staff told him there was an active shooter in the building across the street and they locked the doors, warning everyone to stay away from the windows.
“I wasn’t particularly worried because the two people that I need to look out for were in that same room as me,” he said. “But it was definitely a ‘this is happening here’ moment.”
Letter: gunman would kill ‘anyone who got in his way’
Chief Franklin revealed on Thursday that officers discovered a letter on the suspected gunman’s body that laid out a clear motive .
On 19 May, Louis had back surgery, which was performed by Dr Phillips. The patient then called his doctor several times following the operation, repeatedly complaining of ongoing back pain and was seeking “additional treatment”, according to Chief Franklin.
Louis last saw Dr Phillips on Tuesday for treatment. On Wednesday, just hours before the fatal shooting, he called his doctor to lodge further complaints about his back pain.
When officers arrived to the scene and found the suspected shooter’s body, they also found on Louis a letter “which made it clear that he came in with the intent (of) killing Dr Phillips” and anyone who got in his way, Chief Franklin added.
“This is what he planned to do,” Chief Franklin said. “That letter lead us and told us the story.”