Four people were killed by a gunman wielding a rifle and a handgun at a Tulsa medical facility on a hospital campus on Wednesday, authorities said, and the latest in a string of deadly mass shootings around the country in recent weeks.
Deputy Chief Eric Dalgleish of the Tulsa Police Department verified the death toll and said that the shooter was also dead, reportedly from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Following a spate of recent gun violence across the country, including the shooting deaths of 19 children and two teachers at a Texas elementary school by an 18-year-old gunman wielding an AR-style semi-automatic rifle eight days ago, Democratic leaders have stepped up their calls for stricter gun laws, while Republicans have emphasized increased school security.
The schism reflects a party gap that has blocked action in Congress and several state legislatures on how to respond to the country’s highest-ever number of gun-related deaths.
Dalgleish said it was unknown what precipitated the horrific attack in Tulsa.
“It appears both weapons were fired on the site at some point,” Dalgleish added. “When the officers arrived, they heard bullets inside the building, which led them to the second level.”
Police arrived three minutes after dispatchers received the 911 call at 4:52 p.m., and made contact with the gunman five minutes later, at 5:01 p.m. according to Dalgleish.
“I was quite pleased with what we know so far about our officers’ response,” Dalgleish added.
The time it took police officers in Uvalde, Texas, to engage the gunman during last week’s tragic shooting at Robb Elementary School has become a focal point of the inquiry. Officers had to wait more than an hour to enter the classroom where the gunman had opened fire.
Multiple people were injured, according to police Capt. Richard Meulenberg and the medical complex was a “catastrophic sight.” It was not immediately clear how many people were injured.
The dead have yet to be identified, according to police and hospital officials.
Because of the incident at the Natalie Medical Building; St. Francis Health System shut down its campus on Wednesday afternoon. An outpatient surgical clinic and a breast health center are located in the Natalie building. On the second floor, Dalgleish added, officers discovered the shooter and numerous victims, as well as an orthopedic clinic.
Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum declared, “This campus is sacred ground for our community.” “This campus has been a site where heroes come to work every day to save people’s lives in our community for decades.”
“Right now, my thoughts are with the victims,” Bynum continued. If we want to talk about policy, we can do it in the future, but not now.”
Around 5 p.m., Philip Tankersley, 27, was leaving his father’s room at adjacent Saint Francis Medical when hospital officials advised them to remain away from the windows because there was an active shooter in the building across the street.
Tankersley and his mother hid in his father’s hospital room for more than an hour, trying to piece together facts from the television news and passing nurses. He stated they wondered if they were safe in the room after hearing “code silver” and “level 1 trauma” announced over the hospital speakers.
“I wasn’t too concerned because the two persons I needed to keep an eye on were in the same room as me,” he explained. “However, it was undeniably a ‘this is happening right now’ moment.”
A representative for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives confirmed that agents from the agency were on the scene. A reunification center was set up at a local high school to help families locate their loved ones.
The shooting took place Wednesday, and also comes less than two weeks after a white man was accused of killing ten Black people in a racist attack by shooting at a Buffalo grocery. Several mass shootings occurred over the Memorial Day weekend around the country, including one at an outdoor celebration in Taft, Oklahoma, 45 miles south of Tulsa, despite the fact that single-death incidences accounted for the majority of gun deaths.
According to reporters, in the Northeastern University mass killing database, there have been 12 shootings involving four or more individuals since January. According to the database, 76 people were killed in the shootings, including 31 adults and children in Buffalo and Texas. The suspects in the shootings are not included in the death toll.
