A man who blamed his surgeon for ongoing pain after back surgery bought an AR-style rifle hours before opening fire at a Tulsa medical office, killing the surgeon and three other people before fatally shooting himself, police said Thursday. Tulsa Police Chief Wendell Franklin said the gunman had recently undergone back surgery and had called a clinic repeatedly complaining of pain, reports the Associated Press. Tulsa police described a “catastrophic scene” inside the medical office building Wednesday night. The shooter was armed with a rifle and a handgun as he entered Saint Francis Health System’s Natalie Building and began shooting both guns just before 5 p.m., said Deputy Police Chief Eric Dalgleish, reports the Tulsa World. The shooting occurred in an orthopedic clinic.
The shooter's identity had not been released by Wednesday night. The Muskogee Police Department said he might be from that city and might have left a bomb in his house before coming to Tulsa. Asked about the slew of mass shootings around the U.S. in recent weeks, country Mayor G. T., Bynum said he is focusing on Tulsa’s victims and that talks about policy change can come later. Soon after the first 911 call, more than 100 first responder vehicles came to the area, and officials from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and from the U.S. Marshals Service came to the scene. City Councilor Jayme Fowler grew up just blocks from where the shootings occurred and represents the neighborhood on the council. "It's just tragic," he said. "You never think something like this would happen in our sleepy city."