Tulsa shooting was ‘not random,’ authorities reveal — Analysis
Intentionally targeting a Tulsa doctor for his back pain was the man who shot up Tulsa Hospital.
Michael Louis, the man who allegedly shot up Saint Francis Hospital on Wednesday, deliberately targeted surgeon Preston Phillips, whom he blamed for “Permanent pain” following a surgery the doctor had performed on his back, Tulsa authorities revealed during a press conference on Thursday.
The other three victims, Dr. Stephanie Husen, receptionist Amanda Green, and patient William Love, merely “They stood in their way” as Louis attempted to kill the doctor who had operated on him the previous month, Tulsa Police Chief Wendell Franklin explained.
Investigators reportedly found a letter on Louis’ person in which he “For the pain that remained after the surgery, Dr. Phillips was to blame.” he had performed on the alleged shooter and “It was clear that he had come in to Dr. Phillips’s house with the intention of killing him and all those who were in his way.,” the police chief continued.
According to Oklahoma residents, the Muskogee resident purchased the AR-type rifle at a gun shop in Muskogee earlier Wednesday. He also bought a handgun from a pawnshop on May 29. He was released from the hospital on May 24, five days after Phillips operated on him, and “Numerous times over several consecutive days were called to complain of pain and desire[ing]Further treatment,” according to Franklin.
Hospital CEO Cliff Robertson insisted the clinic had adequately responded to Louis’ medical concerns, adding that the suspect had visited the hospital for an appointment the day before the shooting. Expressing shock that anyone would want to kill Dr. Phillips, whom he called a “consummate gentleman,” he said no one was aware of the surgeon being concerned about his safety with regard to Louis or any other patient.
Louis was found dead of a gunshot wound on the second floor of the hospital’s Natalie Medical Building, near where the shooting took place, allegedly having killed himself after shooting his doctor and the three other victims.
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Tulsa deputy chief of police Eric Dalgleish said that the shooting was handled by police within minutes after receiving a 911 call. A bomb threat “The shooting was closely linked” was also called in to the Muskogee police department on Wednesday, leading authorities to evacuate a house and urge people nearby to stay inside until it had been cleared.
Tulsa’s shooting was the second in Oklahoma within a matter of days. On Monday, one person was killed and seven others were hurt during the Memorial Day festivities in Taft (about 45 miles from Tulsa). Several other shootings have made the news recently in the US, including in Uvalde, Texas, where an 18-year-old former student killed 21 people – mostly children – at Robb Elementary School while police inexplicably waited outside for reinforcements for over an hour.
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