CLOUDS AND SUN 80 • 63 FORECAST, A2
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FRIDAY, JUNE 3, 2022
| tulsaworld.com
MASS SHOOTING AT SAINT FRANCIS HOSPITAL CAMPUS
Determined to kill
MIKE SIMONS PHOTOS, TULSA WORLD
Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum thanks Saint Francis employees at a news conference for showing up at work Thursday, the day after a mass shooting that left five people dead, including the shooter, at the health care system’s Natalie Building. Employees lined the hallway and balcony in the lobby of Saint Francis Heart Hospital during the news conference. Behind Bynum are Dr. Ryan Parker (left) and Saint Francis President and CEO Cliff Robertson.
Police say shooter blamed the physician for his ongoing pain KEVIN CANFIELD
Tulsa World
The shooter who gunned down four people on the campus of Saint Francis Health System on Wednesday was a disgruntled patient determined to kill his doctor and anyone who stood in his way, Tulsa police said Thursday. The physician, Dr. Preston Phillips, 59, had performed back surgery on Michael Louis, 45, of Muskogee on May 19 and saw him the day before the shooting for a follow-up visit, according to a timeline provided by Tulsa Police Chief Wendell Franklin. In the interim, Louis called Phillips’ office several times seeking relief for his pain. After the shooting, Franklin said, police found a letter from Louis that made clear that his intent was to kill Phillips. “He blamed Dr. Phillips for the ongoing pain following the surgery,” Franklin said at a press conference Thursday. Public records show that Phillips had no pending or past disciplinary action by the Oklahoma State Board of Medical Licensure and Supervision and that he was sued once by a patient in district court but the case was dismissed. Franklin identified the other victims as Dr. Stephanie Husen, 48; receptionist Amanda Glenn, 40; and William Love, 73, who ini-
tially was described as a patient. Police later said Love was accompanying a patient. “We are supposed to be the ones who are caring for others during tragedies like this,” Dr. Ryan Parker, Saint Francis associate chief medical officer and emergency room physician, said during the press conference in the lobby of Saint Francis Heart Hospital. “To think that our caregivers were the victims is just incomprehensible to me. “They died while serving others; they died in the line of duty.” According to Franklin, the gunman used two weapons to shoot his way through the orthopedic center on the second floor of the Natalie Building: a semi-automatic AR-15style rifle, and a .40-caliber Smith & Wesson pistol. Louis entered the Natalie Building through a second-floor entrance from the parking garage, Franklin said. “It is an entry that is open to the public just as any other building, just as you walked in here today,” he said. “There is no one to greet you at that door, so he was able to walk in without any type of challenge.” Louis bought the AR-15 at a Tulsa gun store less than three hours before the shootings occurred just
RANDY KREHBIEL
Tulsa World
THE VICTIMS | THEIR STORIES, PAGE A5
Dr. Preston Phillips
Dr. Stephanie Husen
News of the surgeon’s murder in a gun rampage has left scores of patients and colleagues reeling.
The sports medicine specialist‘s “zest for life was evident in how deeply she cared” for patients.
Amanda Glenn
William Love
She was always there, family and friends say. And then she wasn’t.
A retired Army veteran who served one tour in Vietnam, he loved traveling and spending time with his family.
IN DEPTH: Follow all the Tulsa World’s coverage of the mass shooting; point your smartphone camera at the QR code, then tap the link.
LOTTERY
Volume 117, Issue 263
INDEX
Pick 3: 9-6-0 Cash 5: 1-13-18-33-36 Lucky for Life: 3-28-32-38-39 18
METRO&REGION, PAGE A9
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A Lee Enterprises Newspaper
People unfamiliar with Oklahoma gun laws might have been surprised to learn that it’s possible to buy an AR-15-type semi-automatic rifle at 2 p.m. and use it less than three hours later in a mass shooting, which is what Tulsa police say Michael Louis did Wednesday. By all accounts, Oklahoma has some of the least restrictive gun laws in the United States. For the most part, the only barrier to buying a non-automatic firearm is an FBI background check that usually takes only a few minutes. “It looks bad: You buy a gun and (the same afternoon) it’s involved in a mass shooting, but the law is that if they’re not (statutorily) prohibited, there’s nothing that can stop them,” said Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Senior Special Agent Ashley Stephens. “Safe to say, millions of Americans (buy guns) every single day without incident.” Tulsa Police Chief Wendell Franklin said Thursday that Louis first bought a .40-caliber Smith & Wesson semi-automatic pistol at a pawn shop on Sunday, then bought the .223-caliber semi-automatic rifle at a retail store Wednesday afternoon. In both cases, federal law would have required the seller to run Louis’ name and information through
Dr. Ryan Parker and Saint Francis Health System President and CEO Dr. Cliff Robertson speak to journalists on Thursday after a news conference about a mass shooting that left five people dead, including the shooter.
Please see SHOOTING, Page A4
Tulsa city pools opening Saturday. •
Oklahoma imposes few obstacles to obtaining firearms
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the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, known as NICS. Within hours of his last purchase, Louis took the guns to the Natalie Building on the Saint Francis Hospital campus, where he used them to shoot multiple people, killing four of the victims and himself. As far as could be determined Thursday, Louis did not have anything on his record that would have flagged the sales. Oklahoma district court online records show only four misdemeanor traffic cases. Except for occasional delays in the FBI background check, gun buyers in Oklahoma are not subject to any sort of waiting period, licensing or training requirements. State law does forbid transferring guns to “a person who has been convicted of a felony; a person who has been adjudicated delinquent; a person under the influence of alcohol or drugs; or any person who is under adjudication of mental incompetency or who has otherwise been found mentally unfit by a court.” Stephens said something as simple as an outstanding warrant can cause NICS to kick out a name for further investigation. Under federal law, though, the buyer can take the weapon if no decision is forthcoming within 72 hours. Please see GUN LAWS, Page A6
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