A man who blamed his surgeon for ongoing pain after a recent back surgery opened fire at a Tulsa medical office, killing the surgeon and three other people before fatally shooting himself.
Police have released the names of the four victims killed Wednesday after a shooting inside a Tulsa medical facility.
Tulsa police identified the victims Thursday as Dr. Preston Phillips, Dr. Stephanie Husen, Amanda Glenn and William Love.
Tulsa Police Chief Wendell Franklin said at a press conference Thursday morning that the gunman was a patient of Phillips and blamed him for his ongoing pain after a recent back surgery.
Police said the shooter entered the Natalie medical building on the Saint Francis Health System campus through the second floor and began shooting, killing the four victims, before killing himself.
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“We pray. We pray because we all need prayer,” Wendell said Thursday.
According to Wendell, Phillips performed back surgery for the gunman on May 19. The man was released from the hospital on May 24 and called Phillips’ office several times complaining of pain. On May 31, police say he was seen by Phillips to address the issue before calling again on June 1.
Dr. Ryan Parker, Associate Chief Medical Officer for Saint Francis Health System, is one of the 10,000 people employed in the health care system.
“When I woke this morning, I really just wanted this all to be a bad dream but this is the reality of our world right now,” Parker said. “We so wanted to be able to utilize our skills and training to save these precious lives. To the family of Mr. Love, I’m so sorry we couldn’t save you. We are grieving with you.”
Tulsa police released more information on the victims Thursday afternoon.
DR. PRESTON PHILLIPS
Phillips, 59, was a 1990 graduate of Harvard Medical School. According to police, Phillips completed two fellowships at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston in 1986 and 1996. Dr. Phillips earned advanced degrees in organic chemistry and pharmacology, as well as theology from Emory University.
Phillips was an orthopedic surgeon with an interest in spinal surgery and joint reconstruction, according to a profile on the hospital system’s website. He had served as lead physician for Tulsa’s WNBA team before the franchise moved out of state, according to the Tulsa World.
Missy Fox of Broken Arrow said Phillips performed two back surgeries on her in 2019 and 2020, describing him as a “kind and caring soul.”
“I’ve never had a doctor in all the years of my life that was just as amazing as he was,” Fox said. “He worked from his heart. I just can’t imagine something like this happening to him in such a terrible way. It breaks my heart, severely.”
Police said Thursday that evidence shows the gunman acted alone and the shooting was premeditated. He sought out Phillips and “anyone who stood in his way,” police said. He was found dead in a second-floor exam room.
Dr. Cliff Robertson, president and CEO of Saint Francis Health System, said Phillips was a dedicated caregiver who considered medicine his calling. Robertson said Phillips was a “consummate gentleman.”
“He was — he is — a man that we should all strive to emulate,” Robertson said. “The fact that some individual would go after Dr. Phillips is mind-blowing. He’s one of those folks that, you know, his clinic can not always be on time because he will spend every minute with patients that they need.”
“Tragically, this incident is the latest in a seemingly unending series of devastating shootings that serve as painful and recurring reminders that gun violence is a medical and public health crisis in this country,” Harvard Medical School Dean George Q. Daley said Thursday in a statement.
In a statement, the J. Robert Gladden Orthopaedic Society said Phillips was one of its members. The Towson, Maryland-based group said its mission is to increase diversity within the orthopedic profession “and promote the highest quality musculoskeletal care for all people.”
The group called the shooting a “despicable act.”
WILLIAM LOVE
Franklin said Love, 73, was found wounded in a second-floor exam room and taken to the hospital’s emergency room for treatment. He died there.
Although Love was a patient at the clinic where the shooting happened, he didn’t have an appointment that day but was instead accompanying another patient, said Tulsa Police Capt. Richard Meulenberg.
Love was a retired Army sergeant with 27 years of service, including one tour in the Vietnam War, the Tulsa Police Department said in a statement posted on Facebook. Love enjoyed traveling and spending time with his family, which included eight grandchildren and six great grandchildren.
Love had taken his wife, Deborah, to the clinic the day of the shooting for her six-month checkup, said their daughter, Karen Denise Love. Deborah Love had back surgery in December.
They were in an examination room with one of Phillips’ assistants when the couple heard the commotion outside. When they realized it was gunshots, Karen Love said her father grabbed the door handle from inside the room.
“As they heard this guy going up and down the hall, they knew it was gunfire,” Karen Love said. “They thought it was someone just shooting people. My dad was trying to hold the door the best he could.”
The shooter walked past their room, but they heard him come back. He then started shooting through the sheetrock walls and through the door, striking William Love, she said.
“William Love's family would like us to share that at the time of the shooting, William heard the gunshots and knew his wife would not be able to escape the building on her own. He sacrificed his life for her,” a Facebook post by Tulsa police read.
Karen Love said her father was born in Georgia, a “poor, sharecroppers’ boy.”
“He was a red, white and blue guy, my daddy,” she said. “He was a good, stable human being.”
Before he was killed, Love had planned to travel with his wife, his daughter said. They enjoyed California, Wyoming and Georgia, Karen Love said.
AMANDA GLENN
Glenn, 40, was described by her family as a devoted wife and mother, loving sister, and daughter. Robertson said she was a receptionist and served in a supervisory role.
The three employees were “the three best people in the entire world, the most committed to doing what they do every day and taking care of others. They didn’t deserve to die like that,” Robertson said.
“A true servant's heart, Amanda always put everyone else first. She was the happiest just being with her family, with the most amazing love for her boys and husband. Amanda worked in the medical field for over 18 years. Her family says she always had the brightest smile and kindest spirit. She is survived by her husband, Jonathan Glenn, and two sons, Gabe Glenn and Ian Glenn,” the post by police read.
The Charles Page High School baseball team said in a Facebook post that Glenn was a devoted wife, mother and friend.
“She was on our Booster Club Board and served the baseball boys and coaches selflessly. She was the biggest cheerleader for both of her sons and all of our boys!” the statement said. “Our baseball family is at a loss."
DR. STEPHANIE HUSEN
According to the hospital system’s website, Husen, 48, focused on sports medicine. She graduated medical school in 2000 from Oklahoma State University and further trained at Greenville Memorial Hospital and the Steadman Hawkins Clinic of the Carolinas in South Carolina.
Robertson said Husen was “an incredible person.”
Husen’s ex-husband, John Reckenbeil, said Husen was a physical therapist when she broke her foot in a car accident in the late 1990s. As she was rehabilitating her injury, Husen made the decision to go to medical school and study orthopedics, Reckenbeil told The Associated Press.
Husen, who had two brothers, loved her family and enjoyed being a doctor, Reckenbeil said.
“That’s what is just so unacceptable,” Reckenbeil said. “She’s there doing her job ... She loved helping people and she’s ripped from this planet doing what she loved to do.”
Husen grew up in Ponca City, Oklahoma, and was a big fan of Oklahoma Sooners football, Reckenbeil said.
“She was the greatest woman ever,” he said. “She was the best doctor, she was the best person, she was the best wife.”
Husen was cleaning out her house recently and sent him photos from their wedding of his late mother “out of the blue,” Reckenbeil said.
“That’s the type of woman she was,” Reckenbeil said.
Reckenbeil said Husen was often “the smartest person in the room, but she never let you know about it.
