Tulsa police were called to an active mass shooting at the St. Francis Hospital, on Wednesday afternoon, where four patients were killed.
Tulsa mass shooting: What we know about the suspect
In a statement released on Facebook, the Tulsa Police Department confirmed that the mass shooting resulted in the deaths of five people, including the man behind the attack.
It’s believed there are a number of victims being treated for critical wounds sustained in the shooting that took place at the hospital’s Natalie Building.
Therefore, the death toll may increase.
According to Tulsa police, reports of the Tulsa mass shooting were made at approximately 16:52 and a team of first responding officers arrived at the scene three minutes later.
It’s unclear, at this stage, how the shooter was engaged but police believe he may have taken his own life.
“At this point, we can confirm the shooter is down at this time. Officers are currently going through every room in the building checking for additional threats. We know there are multiple injuries, and potentially multiple casualties,” the statement read.
The identity of the shooter has not yet been released to the public. However, according to the police, he was a black male, aged between 35 and 40 years old and “he had one rifle and a handgun at the scene”.
The motive behind the shooting is the main objective of the investigation, Captain Richard Meulenberg told New York Times in an interview. While things are still unclear, at this time, there is a strong belief that the shooter’s actions were not random.
“This wasn’t an individual who just decided he wanted to go find a hospital full of random people. He deliberately made a choice to come here and his actions were deliberate,” Capt Meulenberg said.
This is the fourth mass shooting to occur in the United States (US) in the last three weeks.
On Saturday, 14 May 2022, 18-year-old Payton Gendron killed 10 black victims and injured four others, in a race-fuelled attack in Buffalo, NY.
Around the same time, an Asian man was arrested for shooting up a church gathering in Laguna Woods, CA.
About 10 days later, in Uvalde, Texas, Salvador Ramos killed 19 children and two teachers at Robb Elementary School.