Tulsa police say the gunman who killed four at a hospital was targeting a specific doctor.- The gunman blamed the doctor for pain he suffered following a recent back surgery.
Authorities said the gunman who killed four people at a Tulsa hospital on Wednesday was targeting a doctor whom he blamed for ongoing pain after a recent surgery.
Tulsa Police Chief Wendell Franklin said at a Thursday press conference that the gunman killed Dr. Preston Phillips, and wounded several others, inside a medical building at St. Francis Hospital.
Franklin said officers found a letter with the gunman, who apparently died by suicide, that made it clear he came to the hospital with "the intent to kill Dr. Phillips and anyone who got in his way."
The gunman blamed Phillips for ongoing pain he felt following May 19 back surgery performed by Phillips. He was released from the hospital on May 24, but called back several times over the next few days to complain of his pain and wanted additional treatment.
On May 31, Phillips saw the gunman again for additional treatment, Franklin said. The next day, on June 1, the gunman called Phillips again to complain about his pain and sought more help.
It wasn't immediately clear when the gunman called Phillips on June 1, but at 2 p.m. that day, the gunman purchased a semi-automatic rifle from a local gun store — three days after buying a semi-automatic handgun from a local pawn shop.
Bullets from a handgun and a semi-automatic rifle were found at the scene, police said.
The mass shooting took place a little over a week after 19 children and two adults were gunned down at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.