Michael Louis was named as the suspect enraged by back pain who shot and killed four people in a mass shooting at St. Francis Hospital in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
The suspect is also deceased. The nation’s latest mass shooting occurred on June 1, 2022, on the hospital’s second floor, which houses an orthopedic center. According to online records, the suspect has also gone by the names Michael Louis Baptiste and Michelet Louis Baptiste. Some sites called him Michael Lewis, but online records confirm the spelling as Michael Louis.
The motive was revealed by police the morning after the shooting: Louis targeted an orthopedic surgeon named Dr. Preston Phillips, who was among the victims, police said in a news conference in which they released the shooter’s name. Phillips had performed back surgery on the suspect.
Amanda Glenn, William Love and Dr. Stephanie Husen were the other victims named. Tulsa Police Chief Wendell Franklin said Glenn was a receptionist, Love was a patient and the other two victims were doctors. “They stood in the way, and Louis gunned them down,” he said.
The suspect began firing “at anyone that was in his way,” said Franklin. He said that Love held a door closed so another person could escape through a different doorway before he was shot.
Facebook/St. Francis HospitalTulsa mass shooting victims Dr. Preston Phillips (top left), Amanda Glenn (top right), Dr. Stephanie Husen (bottom right) and William Love (bottom left).
The mass shooting comes as the nation reels from mass shootings at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, and a grocery store in Buffalo, New York. Louis purchased the firearms legally, one the same day as the shooting, police said.
“UPDATE — we now have 5 dead, including the shooter, in the active shooter situation at the Natalie Building on the St. Francis Hospital Campus,” Tulsa police tweeted. Initially, police had said four people were deceased.
UPDATE — we now have 5 dead, including the shooter, in the active shooter situation at the Natalie Building on the St. Francis Hospital Campus.
The victims died caring for others and in the line of duty, a hospital official said in the news conference on June 2, 2022.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. Louis, Who Left a Note, Was Upset About Pain Caused by Back Surgery Performed on Him by Dr. Phillips
BREAKING: Tulsa Police confirm one of the victims is Dr. Preston Phillips, an orthopedic surgeon.
Police say he was the intended target.
His bio on Saint Francis says Dr. Phillips had an interest in spinal surgery & joint reconstruction – including joint replacement.
Police initially said they weren’t sure whether the suspect was specifically targeting someone. However, they now believe that he was targeting an orthopedic surgeon named Dr. Preston Phillips because of a surgery that took place less than two weeks before the shooting. Police said Louis left a note articulating that motive.
Phillips was found deceased in an exam room.
“He blamed Dr. Phillips for the ongoing pain following the surgery,” Franklin said, explaining the contents of Louis’ letter.
According to a now-deleted tweet, scanner traffic also indicated the suspect was looking for Phillips, who, according to Health Grades, was an orthopedic surgery specialist in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
On May 19, Louis went into the hospital for a back surgery, according to the police chief. The physician was Phillips. Louis was released on May 24, Franklin said in the news conference. Louis called over several days complaining of pain and wanting additional treatment. On May 31, Phillips saw Louis again for additional treatment, Franklin said.
On June 1, the day of the mass shooting, Louis called Phillips’ office again, complaining of back pain and wanting additional assistance, Franklin said.
Tulsa City Council Member Jamye Fowler told CNN that Louis initially couldn’t find Phillips.
“The shooter could not find this physician, and that elicited his behavior at the shootings.”
Mayor G.T. Bynum of Tulsa said in an earlier news conference: “This has been the facility more than any other that has worked to save the lives of people in this city.” He praised “the broad range of first responders today who did not hesitate to respond to this act of violence.”
2. A Person on a Video Chat With a Doctor First Called 911, Police Say
ACTIVE SHOOTER SITUATION UPDATE: See our Facebook for more info:
A third party on a video chat with a doctor called 911, saying the doctor told her to call and say there was a shooting. At 4:53 p.m., the 911 caller said there was a shooter in a building. There were then multiple calls about a shooter being on the second floor, Franklin said.
At 4:55 p.m., a person called and clarified which building. A minute later, the first Tulsa police officers arrived to the five-story medical office building with numerous offices, rooms and hallways. “It is an exceedingly complex environment,” the chief said.
The officers made their way to the second floor. Officers began yelling, “Tulsa police,” he said. At that point, police heard a gunshot at 4:58 p.m., and they believe it was Louis taking his own life.
Police say the entire active shooter situation unfolded over the span of just a few minutes.
According to Franklin, police found a victim in an exam room. Another deceased victim was next to the shooting suspect, and another victim was found in an open area near a nurse’s station.
Franklin called the mass shooting a “senseless tragedy.”
He said law enforcement training led police to take immediate action without hesitation. They “went into action,” he said.
Eric Dalgleish, deputy chief of the Tulsa Police Department, said in a previous news conference that the shooting was limited to the second floor. He said no officers were injured.
Tulsa police wrote in a statement on Twitter, “Earlier this afternoon, we responded to a call about a man armed with a rifle at the Natalie Building at St. Francis Hospital. This turned into an active shooter situation.”
Police confirmed that the “shooter is dead.” They wrote, “Officers are currently going through every room in the building checking for additional threats. We know there are multiple injuries and potentially multiple casualties.”
3. The Suspect, Who Has Roots in New Jersey, Purchased an AR-15 Rifle the Afternoon of the Shooting, Police Say
Tulsa Police Department
According to Franklin, at 2 p.m. on June 1, Louis purchased a semi-automatic AR-15 style rifle from a local gun store. On May 29, Louis purchased a handgun at a local pawn shop, the chief said. He used both in the mass shooting, police say.
Thirty-seven casings were found at the crime scene.
The suspect was a Black male, estimated age 35 to 40, police initially said, providing no other description on the evening of the shooting. He had a handgun and a rifle, according to the first description provided by police.
Louis was 45 and from a family in New Jersey with Haitian roots, online records show. An old LinkedIn page in his name said he worked in information technology and as a health desk analyst.
A woman who is a physician is also listed as living at Louis’ Muskogee home, according to online records. She practices family medicine, according to her Oklahoma license.
Dalgleish said the active shooter call came in at 4:52 p.m. Officers arrived at the location in three minutes. They made contact with victims and the suspect at 5:01 p.m.
The officers heard shots in the building, directing them to the second floor, according to Dalgleish.
“There is an orthopedic center, an orthopedic office, there, but I’m unaware if that occupies the whole floor, or if there are other offices on the floor,” he said. He added that this office was “at least part of the scene.”
4. Police Were Investigating a Possible Bomb in a House in Muskogee Listed to Louis
Muskogee PoliceMuskogee Police responded to a possible bomb inside a home.
The Muskogee Police Department wrote on Facebook that it was notified of a possible bomb inside a home.
“We have been notified by Tulsa PD of a possible bomb inside a residence located at Park Place North. We are asking residence in that area to shelter in place at this time and we will be coming door to door to make contact with you,” they posted on Facebook on Wednesday evening.
Police asked people to “avoid the Country Club area at this time as it is a very active scene.”
KTUL-TV reported that the residence in question was at 3325 Park Place North in Muskogee.
No explosives were found, according to Muskogee Now.
Louis’s niece told Daily Beast, “Tulsa Police called me and verified that it’s my uncle. We are so distraught.” She said the crime left her disgusted and insisted no one in the family had exhibited such behavior in the past.
The suspect’s wife called police to say her husband had killed people at Phillips’ office, Franklin said.
5. A Woman Was Rescued Who Was Hiding Under a Desk ‘at the Suspect’s Foot’
Tulsa Police
Police described some dramatic rescues. They said they rescued a female who was hiding under a desk at the suspect’s foot. She was there when the suspect took his own life and did not appear to be injured, said Franklin.
They also rescued an elderly female who was still alive, they said.
Jim Massengill, the brother of victim Amanda Glenn, wrote on Facebook, “I haven’t really came up with the words yet… I honestly have no idea what to say because I’ve been hysterically crying since I found out. But my sister Amanda Glenn was killed in the hospital shooting yesterday… more than me, her Husband and Children need all the love and support everyone can give them… my sister was one of the most kind and caring individuals to ever live… I wish I had more to say… but I’m still in complete shock.”
According to police, they went floor-to-floor and office-to-office looking for victims and survivors. They also found a witness, described as a potential victim, locked in a closet.
The entire active shooter situation took place over four minutes, authorities said.
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