Tulsa Hospital Shooter Opened Fire at Doctors over Pain, Officials Say

Tulsa, OK (WorkersCompensation.com) – A gunman opened fire in an orthopedic office on Wednesday, killing the doctor who had recently performed surgery on his back, another physician and a receptionist, officials said Friday.   

Tulsa Police Chief Wendell Franklin said the shooter had repeatedly called the Jersey and Warren Clinic Orthopedic Surgery and Sports Medicine complaining of pain before going to the second floor of the Natalie Medical Building at St. Francis Hospital with a gun and shooting four people there. The shooter, as Michael Louis, 45, ultimately took his own life, Franklin said.   

Police identified the dead as Dr. Preston Phillips, 59, Louis’ surgeon just days before; along with Dr. Stephanie Husen, 48; the practice’s receptionist Amanda Glenn, 40; and a visitor William Love, 73.   

According to authorities, Louis had back surgery on May 19 and that Phillips was his surgeon. After being released from Saint Francis Health System on May 24, Louis called Phillips office several times over the next few days complaining of ongoing pain.   

On Sunday, May 29, Louis purchased a .40-caliber Smith & Wesson pistol from a pawn shop in Muskogee. Two days later, on May 31, Louis was seen again at Phillips’ office. The next day, June 1, he called Phillips’ office complaining of ongoing pain.   

Officials said during a press conference, that on June 1, Louis went to a Tulsa gun retailer and purchased a semi-automatic AR-15-style rifle.   

Less than three hours later, calls started coming in to 911 with reports of shooting in the Natalie Building of the hospital.   

Franklin said officers entered the building at 4:48 p.m., about three minutes after the first 911 call. As they were approaching the scene, officers said they heard a gunshot, which they believe was Louis inflicting on himself.   

Investigators later found a letter that said he was targeting Phillips, and “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 the police department was also contacted by Louis’ wife who told her what he had done.   

"Louis expressed that he was in pain and was not getting relief," Franklin said. "And that was the circumstance surrounding this entire incident."  

Police said that Louis shot Husen, another surgeon at the practice, and the practice’s receptionist Amanda Glenn, on his way to Phillips. Love, who was at the clinic with his wife, reportedly worked to stop the shooter. A 73-year-old retired Army sergeant, Love reportedly held a door shut in an attempt to allow others to escape the gunman through another door.  

Several others were injured, Franklin said. One woman escaped without injury, he said.   

"We found the suspect, and we rescued a female who was hiding under a desk at the suspect’s foot," Franklin said. "She was there when the suspect took his life."  

Police described the scene as “catastrophic”. The total number injured was not released as of Friday.   

“It wasn’t random,” Tulsa Police Captain Richard Meulenberg told the New York Times. “This wasn’t an individual who just decided he wanted to go find a hospital full of random people. He deliberately made a choice to come here and his actions were deliberate.”  

Employees at the hospital told the Times they helped guide patients out of the “labyrinth” of corridors and offices in the hospital building to safety. Meulenberg said the number of people with gunshot wounds was low, but that some of the injuries people sustained may have been tied to the hundreds of people trying to escape the building when the shooting started.   

During a press conference Wednesday evening, Saint Francis Health Systems CEO Cliff Robertson said people should pray for the victims.   

“There is nothing more this community can do for us than pray for the families and loved ones of the victims of this senseless act,” Robertson said. “It will be a very bumpy road ahead of us.”  

Robertson said the hospitals staff would continue to provide medical care to the community.   

“There are over 10,000 of us who are part of the Saint Francis Health System that every day commit their lives to taking care of people in need. This horrible, incomprehensible act is not going to change that.”  

The shooting comes amidst growing violence toward health care workers. In late March, the American Hospital Association said in a letter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland that stronger protections were needed for healthcare workers.   

“Hospitals and health systems have long had robust protocols in place to detect and deter violence against their team members,” the AHA wrote. “Since the onset of the pandemic, however, violence against hospital employees has markedly increased — and there is no sign it is receding. Studies indicate that 44 percent of nurses report experiencing physical violence and 68 percent report experiencing verbal abuse during the pandemic.”  

The AHA said reports of violence against healthcare workers was growing.   

“News reports support these conclusions. To take just a few examples, a patient recently grabbed a nurse in Georgia by the wrist and kicked her in the ribs,” the organization wrote. “A nurse in South Dakota was thrown against a wall and bitten by a patient. A medical student in New York who came from Thailand was called ‘China Virus,’ kicked, and dragged to the ground, leaving her hands bleeding and legs bruised. The president of Mercy Health Saint Mary’s in Michigan has reported: ‘Our staff are yelled at, punched, hit, scratched, we hear about these on a day-to-day basis.’ And a Maine nurse has said: ‘We have been hit, bitten, choked, shoved, kicked, spit upon, and concussed.’”  

In response to the shooting, the AHA said legislation must be passed quickly.   

“Yesterday was another unfortunate example of gun violence in our country. This latest incident was in a medical facility, a place of healing, on the campus of Saint Francis Hospital in Tulsa, Okla. We grieve with the victims and their families, as well as the entire Saint Francis Health System team, as they mourn the loss of four members of their community,” Rick Pollack, AHA president and CEO said in a statement. “This further reinforces the need for action to be taken to stop these tragic events. Legislators are working on a bipartisan effort to address gun violence, and we urge them to act quickly.”