Police: Tulsa gunman targeted surgeon he blamed for pain

Tulsa Police Chief Wendell Franklin (center) addresses reporters at a news conference at the Heart Hospital at Saint Francis, one day after a gunman opened fire in a mass shooting that left five people, including himself, dead at the nearby Natalie Medical Building on the Saint Francis campus in Tulsa. (Tulsa Police Department via Public Radio Tulsa)

A gunman who killed his surgeon and three other people at a Tulsa medical office blamed the doctor for his continuing pain after a recent back operation and bought an AR-style rifle just hours before the rampage, police said Thursday.

The patient called the clinic repeatedly complaining of pain and specifically targeted the doctor who performed the surgery, then killed himself as police arrived, Tulsa Police Chief Wendell Franklin said.

That physician, Dr. Preston Phillips, was killed Wednesday, along with Dr. Stephanie Husen, receptionist Amanda Glenn and visitor William Love, police said. The attack occurred on the campus of Saint Francis Health System in Tulsa. The chief identified the shooter as Michael Louis, 45, of Muskogee, Oklahoma.