Updated 6/3: Dr. Preston Phillips, Orthopedic Surgeon specializing in spinal surgery and joint reconstruction, was assassinated Wednesday June 1 in the second-floor orthopedic offices of the Natalie Medical Building within Tulsa’s St. Francis Hospital complex at approximately 5 pm by a patient Dr. Phillips had performed back surgery on May 19.
Michael Louis of Muskogee (between 35 – 40 yrs.) was released from the hospital May 24 but called afterwards several times complaining of back pain and was seen again by Dr. Phillips Tuesday May 31. Louis called Wednesday before the shooting seeking additional pain relief and treatment.
Tulsa Police Chief Wendell Franklin told reporters that an hour before the shooting, Louis legally bought a semi-automatic AR-15-style rifle from a local gun store. He purchased a semi-automatic handgun on May 29 from a local pawn shop, Franklin said.
Franklin said, police found a letter from Louis stating that his intent was to kill Phillips “and anyone who got in his way.” He “blamed Dr. Phillips for ongoing pain following the surgery,” Franklin said at a press conference Thursday.
Dr. Phillips was well known and liked by his colleagues within the Tulsa medical community several told Tulsa Today.
Franklin identified the other victims as Dr. Stephanie Husen, 48; receptionist Amanda Glenn, 40; and William Love, 73, who police said was accompanying a patient.
Franklin noted Louis’ wife said Louis contacted her to let her know what he had done, but she was not aware in advance of the shooting and she confirmed he blamed Phillips for his ongoing pain.
After Louis called his wife, he took his own life.
Louis entered the facility via a second-floor garage, where he parked before he “worked his way into the building,” Franklin said.
Police arrived at the hospital campus about three minutes after dispatchers were called for an active shooter and found Louis at 5:01 p.m., Tulsa police Deputy Chief Eric Dalgleish told reporters Wednesday.
Officers initially heard shots being fired on the second floor, Dalgleish said, “That’s what directed them to the second floor.”
While abundant national coverage of this tragic event is ongoing, Tulsa Today has found no news or commentary questioning the medical industrial complex’s reliance on or promotion of back and neck surgeries. How frequently are back or neck problems solved by surgery? How many patients report more or less pain after surgery? These are proper empirical (verifiable by observation or experience rather than theory or pure logic) inquiries on treatment in an age where public health officials have caused catastrophic killing of millions worldwide by their failure to follow science in self-examination of policies in both direct and unintended consequences of COVID-19 treatments.
Media, politicians and pundits are, to no surprise, focused on guns, but it is reasonable to suggest that Louis would have used a knife, sword, hammer, chainsaw or other tool if he couldn’t have purchased guns. Louis was intent on killing his doctor and willing to kill anyone in his path.
The Tulsa Community Foundation has a Saint Francis Employee Emergency Fund set up to help members of the Saint Francis family, click here to reach SaintFrancisStrong.