Tulsa gunman left note blaming surgery pain for killing his doctor and three others

Johanna Chisholm
·3 min read

Officials identified the man suspected of shooting and killing four people at a medical clinic in Oklahoma, alongside all of his victims.

Tulsa Police Department police chief Wendell Franklin said that Michael Lewis, who they believe also died of self-inflicted wounds, was a patient at Tulsa medical clinic and was admitted to the facility on 19 May for back surgery and called several times afterward complaining about pain and sought “additional treatment”.

“On May 31 Dr Phillips saw Mr Lewis again for additional treatment. Yesterday June 1 Mr Lewis called Dr Phillips office again and wanting additional assistance,” the police chief said in a statement.

“Now we know through the help of our ATF and our gun tracing that on 2 pm at June 1 he purchased a semi-automatic rifle from a local gun store,” Chief Franklin said. That firearm was an AR-165 rifle, he added. The man then proceeded to purchase a semi-automatic handgun on 29 May from a local pawn shop, the police chief said.

All firearms, according to Chief Franklin, were purchased legally and the force has ruled out race as a potential motivating factor as the police chief noted that “there was nothing about race that caused this incident to take place”.

Michael Lewis, the suspected shooter from the Tulsa hospital attack, left a note outlining his intent to kill his doctor for the pain he was suffering after a back surgery the physician performed on him in May, authorities said. (Tulsa Police Department)
Michael Lewis, the suspected shooter from the Tulsa hospital attack, left a note outlining his intent to kill his doctor for the pain he was suffering after a back surgery the physician performed on him in May, authorities said. (Tulsa Police Department)

On Wednesday, officers responded to reports of a man with a rifle at St Francis Hospital’s Natalie Building, which then turned into an “active shooter situation”. The building houses an outpatient surgery centre and a breast health centre.

The Tulsa Police Department said five people were dead in total, including the shooter.

Authorities revealed the identities of the four people killed during Wednesday’s mass shooting, which included three emloyees of Saint Francis Healthcare system and one patient. The victims were identified by TPD as Dr Preston Phillips, Dr Stephanie Husen, Amanda Glenn and William Love.

Glenn was identified by police as a receptionist at the facility, while Love was a patient.

”They stood in the way, and Lewis gunned them down,” the police chief said during a press conference.

Authorities went on to reveal during Thursday’s press conference that they’d found a letter on the suspect, which they said “made it clear he came in with the intent to kill Dr Phillips” and added that the shooter also said he’d kill “anyone who got in his way”.

“This is what he planned to do,” said Chief Franklin. “That letter lead us and told us the story.”

Chief Franklin later went on to praise his staff for their fast response to Wednesday’s shooting.

“I cannot begin to thank the men and women of the TPD for the immediate response they had to the incident yesterday,” he said. “Our training led us to take immediate action without hesitation, that’s exactly what our officers do.”

Lewis’ wife and Chief Franklin confirmed that the gunman had complained about his ongoing back pain issues after being discharged from hospital on 24 May and blamed Dr Phillips following his surgery, according to Tulsa World.

The shooting in Tulsa that left four people and the shooter dead came just eight days after the Uvalde massacre, where 19 children and two teachers were brutally murdered by a teenage gunman, and a couple weeks after a self-proclaimed white supremacist and racist shot dead 10 Black people in a grocery store in Buffalo, New York.