Dissatisfied with Post Op Pain, US Patient enters hospital, kills treating surgeon, 3 others

Tulsa, US: Showing that violence against doctors is a worldwide phenomenon, a chilling report has come from the US where a patient gunned down his treating physician on account of postoperative pain. 

Blaming a doctor for ongoing pain after back surgery, an angry patient opened fire at a Tulsa medical office shooting four people including the doctor who has performed the surgery.

Due to an increase in the trend of aggression and violence against doctors, it has become a frightening new epidemic worldwide. The man who opened fire had purchased an AR-style rifle hours before fatally shooting four people, before shooting himself the authorities said Thursday.

Tulsa Police Chief Wendell Franklin says the gunman had recently undergone back surgery and had called a clinic repeatedly complaining of pain.

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Franklin says the doctor who performed the surgery, Dr Preston Phillips, was among those killed Wednesday.

"We also have a letter on the suspect, which made it clear that he came in with the intent to kill Dr Phillips and anyone who got in his way," Franklin said. "He blamed Dr Phillips for the ongoing pain following the surgery."

Authorities said the gunman carried a rifle and handgun during the shooting at the medical building on a hospital campus, the latest in a series of deadly mass shootings across the country in recent weeks.

The victims and gunman in Tulsa were found on the second floor of a medical office where an orthopaedic clinic is located, police said. The shooter, whose name has not been released, died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, Tulsa Police Department Deputy Chief Eric Dalgleish said.

The hospital said in a statement that it was "grieving the loss of four members of our community" but did not immediately identify the dead.

All appointments at the orthopaedic clinic were cancelled through Friday.

Authorities investigating the Tulsa shooting executed a search warrant at a home in Muskogee, about 45 miles (70 kilometres) southeast of Tulsa, in connection with the investigation, police said.

"The officers who arrived were hearing shots in the building, and that's what led them to the second floor."

Police responded to the call about three minutes after dispatchers received the report at 4:52 pm and made contact with the gunman at 5:01 pm, Dalgleish said.

"I was very happy with what we know so far regarding the response of our officers," Dalgleish said.

St. Francis Health System locked down its campus Wednesday afternoon because of the situation at the Natalie Medical Building, which houses outpatient clinics and other medical offices.

Philip Tankersley, 27, was leaving his father's room at nearby Saint Francis Hospital around 5 pm, when hospital staff said there was an active shooter in the building across the street, locked the doors and warned them to stay away from the windows.

Tankersley said he and his mother sheltered in his father's hospital room for more than an hour, trying to learn scraps of information from the TV news and passing nurses. He said they heard "code silver" and "level 1 trauma" announced on the hospital speakers and wondered if they were safe in the room.

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