Tulsa police chief says goal in active shooter situation is to stop threat "by any means necessary" (2024)

Tulsa Police Chief Wendell Franklin outlined the process that his department follows once there is an active shooter situation.

He said the activation occurs through the 911 system that alerts every city police officer.

Law enforcement "performed heroically, inmy opinion, and I cannot thankenough the response not onlyfrom our locals, but also fromthe FBI, the United StatesMarshals Service, the ATF," he added.

The victims of Wednesday's shooting in a Tulsa medical building include two doctors, a receptionist and a patient, police said.

"They were there for medicalservice.The doctor was there providingcare.They stood in the way.They stood in the way and [the suspect]gunned them down," Tulsa Police Chief Wendell Franklin said.

The victims were identified as Dr. Preston Phillips, Dr. Stephanie Husen, Amanda Glennand William Love.

"We are supposed to be the ones that are caring for others during tragedies like this. To think that our caregivers were the victims is just incomprehensible to me," said Dr. Ryan Parker, St. Francis Hospital's associate chief medical officer and emergency room physician.

"They died while serving others. They died in the line of duty," she said.

Parker said she was in the emergency room last night after the shooting.

Love, one of the victims, was a patient at the Warren Clinic, where the shooting occurred, Franklin said Thursday.

Husenwas a doctor of osteopathic medicine.

Husen was "another one of the physicians that works in our orthopedic department," said Dr. Cliff Robertson, president and CEO of St. Francis Health System said. "Stephanie is just, was, an incredible person."

Getting emotional,Robertson said Phillips "was the consummate gentleman."

"He was, he is a man that we should all strive to emulate and of everybody, the fact that some individual would go after Dr. Phillips, is mind-blowing," Robertson said. "It is the ultimate loss for St. Francis and for Tulsa."

Glenn was a receptionist at the Warren Clinic, Franklin said during the news conference.

"The three best people in the entire world that are the most committed to doing what they do every day and taking care of others didn't deserve to die this way," Robertson said.

Update: This post has been updated with the correct identification for Amanda Glenn.

During a news conference Thursday, Tulsa Police Chief Wendell Franklin said the shooting suspect who killed four on Wednesday in a medical building had recently undergone surgery performed by one of the victims, Dr. Preston Phillips.

Louis was released on May 24, but "right after release, Louis called several times over several days complaining of pain and wanted additional treatment," Franklin said.

"He blamed Dr. Phillips for the ongoing pain following the surgery," he said.

On May 31, Phillipssawthe suspect again for additionaltreatment, according to Franklin.Yesterday, the suspectcalled Phillips' officeagain "complaining of back painand wanting additionalassistance."

Tulsa Police Chief Wendell Franklin said that authorities found a letter written by the shooting suspect who killed four people at a medical building in the Oklahoma city.

Police said that the suspect wentinto the hospital for a backsurgery on May 19, and the performing physician was Dr.PrestonPhillips.

The police chief also said that officials received a call from someone who told a 911 dispatcher that she was the suspect's wife and had killed people in the office.

"We received a callfrom the Cherokee CountySheriff's Office, and thatdispatcher told us a woman onthe line, whose name they didnot have, called saying that herhusband had killed severalpeople at Dr. Phillips' office.This would have been a half hourafter the event occurred," he said.

Franklin added that authorities have recovered multiple casings from the crime scene.

Tulsa Police Chief Wendell Franklin just released the names of the victims from the Tulsa shooting.

They were identified as Dr. Preston Phillips, Dr. Stephanie Husen, Amanda Glennand William Love.

The suspect has been identified as Michael Louis, Franklin said.

Update: This post has been updated with the correct identification for Amanda Glenn.

Tulsa police officials provided details on the timeline of how the Tulsa shooting unfolded on Wednesday.

On May 19, the gunman wentinto the hospital for a back surgery and he was released on May 24, said Chief Wendell Franklin. On May 31, he received additional treatment.

Here's how the rest of shooting unfolded, according to Franklin:

On June 1 at 2 p.m. local time, the gunman purchased an AR-15 style semiautomatic rifle. He had previously purchased a 4.0-caliber semiautomatic handgun on May 29.

On June 1st at 4:52 p.m., athird party who was on a videochat, off location, with an on-location doctor, called 911,saying the doctor told her tocall 911, saying there has been ashooting.

At 4:53 p.m. police received a 911call about a shooter in abuilding.They continued to receivemultiple calls that were morespecific on the shooter being onthe second floor of the Nataliebuilding on the campus at St. Francis Hospital.

At 4:56 p.m., the first Tulsa police officers arrived. Officers entered the building onthe first floor and made theirway to the second floor based onthe information they received.

At this point, officers were calling out"Tulsa police," and advancingtoward the suspect location's when theyheard a gunshot, Wendell said. "We believe that was the finalgunshot with the suspect takinghis own life."

That gunshot was at 4:58 p.m., which wasabout 39 seconds afterthe first officers entered thebuilding, he noted.

Officials in Tulsa are giving an update on the Wednesday shooting at a medical building that left four people dead.

TulsaPolice Chief Wendell Franklin, TulsaMayor G.T. Bynum and medical officials are expected to speak.

The assault-style weapon found on the scene of Wednesday’s shooting at a Tulsa medical building was purchased the day of the shooting, according to three federal sources briefed on the investigation.

The weapon was anAR-15style firearm, a source said.

A handgun, also found on the scene, was purchased on May 29, a source tells CNN.

On Wednesday, Tulsa Police Department Capt. RichardMeulenbergtold CNNthat officials found a semiautomatic rifle a semiautomatic pistol on the scene.

Four people were killed and at least 10 others were injured during a shooting at the Natalie Medical Building, a physician’s office facility on the campus of Saint Francis Hospital, Tulsa Police Deputy Chief Eric Dalgleish said.

Four people were killed in Tulsa on Wednesday after a gunman — who was later found dead —opened fireon the second floor of a medical building, authorities in Oklahoma said.

"It was just madness inside, with hundreds of rooms and hundreds of people trying to get out of the building," Tulsa Police Capt. Richard Meulenberg told CNN.

The mass shooting is among the latest instances nationwide of first responders and civilians coming face-to-face with the threat ofgun violence in public places. It comes more than two weeks after aracist assaultat a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, and a bloody attack ata church in California; and eight days after a heartbreaking massacre at anelementary schoolin Uvalde, Texas.