Tulsa medical building shooting latest in string of mass shootings

Jun 02, 2022

Jimmie Johnson Reporter

By Jimmie Johnson (Reporter), Ben Burke (Producer/Editor)

A shooting at a medical building in Tulsa left five dead, including the gunman, according to this tweet from Tulsa police. Deputy Police Chief Eric Dalgleish said police believe the shooter’s death was self-inflicted. Two of the other four killed were doctors at the clinic. On Wednesday, Tulsa Police Capt. Richard Meulenberg also said multiple people were wounded and that the medical complex was a “catastrophic scene.” The exact number of wounded was not immediately available.

“We’re an organization that believes in the power of prayer and there is nothing more that this community can do for us than to pray for the families and the loved-ones and the victims of this senseless act.,” President and CEO of Saint Francis Health System said Wednseday.

According to a Thursday news conference, the shooter had undergone back surgery at the clinic last month. The doctor who performed the surgery, Dr. Preston Phillips, was among those killed Wednesday.

“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. “He blamed Dr. Phillips for the ongoing pain following the surgery.”

Authorities said the gunman brought a rifle and handgun to the medical building. On Thursday, Tulsa police revealed the shooter had purchased an assault rifle-style gun hours before the shooting.

The Tulsa medical building shooting was the latest in a series of mass shootings that have rocked the country in recent weeks. It happened the same week families in Uvalde, Texas, began burying the 21 people who died in last week’s elementary school shooting. The Tulsa shooting also came more than two weeks after a shooting at a Buffalo supermarket left 10 people dead. Multiple mass shootings unfolded over Memorial Day weekend, including at an outdoor festival in Taft, Oklahoma, 45 miles from Tulsa.

Since January, there have been 12 shootings where four or more people have been killed, according to The Associated Press/USA TODAY/Northeastern University mass killing database. Those shootings have left 76 dead, not including the suspects in the shootings.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Jimmie Johnson: ANOTHER COMMUNITY IS REELING FROM ANOTHER MASS SHOOTING.
THE LATEST ONE HAPPENED YESTERDAY AFTERNOON INSIDE A MEDICAL BUILDING IN TULSA, OKLAHOMA.
FIVE PEOPLE WERE KILLED — INCLUDING THE GUNMAN, WHO TOOK HIS OWN LIFE BEFORE OFFICERS ARRIVED.
IN A NEWS CONFERENCE THIS MORNING — POLICE SAID THE SHOOTER INTENDED TO KILL ONE OF THE DOCTORS AT THE CLINIC.
THE DOCTOR HAD PERFORMED BACK SURGERY LAST MONTH.
POLICE SAID THE SHOOTER HAD PURCHASED AN A-R-STYLE RIFLE JUST HOURS BEFORE THE SHOOTING.
Dr. Cliff Robertson | President, Saint Francis Health System: “We’re an organization that believes in the power of prayer and there is nothing more that this community can do for us than to pray for the families and the loved-ones and the victims of this senseless act.”
Jimmie Johnson: THE SHOOTING COMES JUST OVER A WEEK AFTER 21 PEOPLE WERE KILLED AT A UVALDE, TEXAS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL.
AND JUST OVER TWO WEEKS AFTER 10 PEOPLE WERE KILLED IN A SHOOTING AT A BUFFALO SUPERMARKET.
IN THE UVALDE SHOOTING — POLICE RESPONSE TIME HAS BECOME A SOURCE OF CRITICISM.
THAT WAS NOT THE CASE IN THE TULSA SHOOTING.
Deputy Chief Eric Dalgleish | Tulsa Police Department: “There was a three-minute response. So I don’t know how long the call took to come in, but it appears as though the whole thing was a four, four-minute or so time span from the time it came in until the time officers made contact, 4 to 5 minutes.”
Jimmie Johnson: WHEN VISITING UVALDE OVER THE WEEKEND — PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN SAID HE WOULD “DO SOMETHING” TO ADDRESS GUN VIOLENCE — LIKELY IN THE FORM OF GUN CONTROL MEASURES.
HOWEVER — THE PROSPECTS OF THAT ARE UNLIKELY WITH A 50-50 SPLIT IN THE SENATE.