June 2, 2022
Tulsa Police have identified the shooter in yesterday’s mass shooting at Saint Francis as 45-year-old Michael Louis.
A man who blamed his surgeon for continuing pain after a recent back operation bought an AR-style rifle and opened fire hours later at a Tulsa medical office, killing the doctor and three other people in an attack that ended with him taking his own life, police said Thursday.
The gunman called the clinic repeatedly complaining of pain and specifically targeted the doctor who performed the surgery, Tulsa Police Chief Wendell Franklin said.
It was the latest in a series of mass shootings in United States including the deadly school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, and an attack on a supermarket in Buffalo, New York.
Louis carried a letter that said he was targeting Phillips, Franklin said.
The letter “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.”
A phone number listed for an address for a Michael Louis in Muskogee was not working Thursday.
Phillips was an orthopedic surgeon with an interest in spinal surgery and joint reconstruction, according to a profile on the clinic’s website.
He once served as lead physician for Tulsa’s WNBA team before the franchise moved out of state, according to the Tulsa World.