Editor's Note: This article was updated at 12:18 p.m. on June 3 to reflect the proper spelling of Amanda Glenn's name and William Love's visitation status.
The Oklahoma House Democratic Caucus prepared for a press conference following several mass shootings in the United States in May 2022. One day before calling the press conference, a mass shooting at St. Francis Hospital in Tulsa left four dead on June 1.
The caucus announced the Stand Against Violence and Extremism Act, or the SAVE Act, during the conference at the state Capitol. The conference was held mere hours after officials with the Tulsa Police Department and St. Francis Hospital held their own press conference to deliver details and information from the shooting.
The SAVE Act would be heard and voted on during one of the congressional special sessions. SAVE aims to repeal several pieces of previously passed legislation, including House Bill 2597 granting permitless carry, Senate Bill 1081 banning anti red flag laws and House Bill 2010 authorizing concealed carry in public parks and zoos.
The act would also implement new laws regulating gun purchase waiting periods and raise the minimum age to purchase an assault weapon from 18 to 21 while creating a statewide red flag law.
“It's unfortunate that this male-dominated legislature is mostly concerned with children's bathrooms and regulating a woman's right to health care as opposed to making sure our kids are safe — making sure that individuals who are dangerous do not have access to firearms,” Rep. Jason Lowe (D-OKC) said.
The shooter, Michael Louis, purchased an AR-15-style rifle at 2 p.m. and went to the hospital shortly before 5 p.m. on Wednesday, armed with the rifle and handgun purchased at a pawnshop Sunday. Louis opened fire on the second floor of the Natalie Medical Building, killing Dr. Preston Phillips, Dr. Stephanie Husen, Amanda Glenn and William Love.
Dr. Preston Phillips
Philips, a 59-year-old orthopedic surgeon and graduate of Harvard University, served as Louis’ surgeon for a back procedure in late May. The shooter blamed Philips for his continued back pain, leading him to target Philips, as found in a letter discovered on Louis after the shooting.
Dr. Stephanie Husen
Husen, 48, was a graduate from OU and a former member of Chi Omega sorority on campus. The Epsilon Alpha chapter on campus released a statement Thursday, calling her an “incredible woman” and offering prayers toward her family and colleagues.
Glenn, 40, was an employee at St. Francis, while Love, 73, was a guest of a patient at the hospital that day.
At a press conference Thursday morning at St. Francis, Tulsa’s Police Chief Wendell Franklin detailed the timeline of events before and during the shooting, explaining that officers immediately responded to scene.
“I cannot emphasize enough that we train rigorously over and over again for not if, but when, because we have seen the violence that has taken place throughout the U.S. and we would be naive not to think that would not happen in our jurisdiction,” Franklin said.
Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum also spoke during the press conference, calling hospital staff heroes and thanking them for resuming work the day after the shooting, along with first responders.
“Our focus right now is on grieving. The shooter is dead,” Bynum said. “The threat that he brought to this campus, that has been ended yesterday. But the days ahead of us and the weeks ahead of us, it is so important for this community to show the team here at St. Francis how much we love you.”
President Joseph Biden addressed the nation Thursday evening, recognizing the uptick in mass shootings and proposing gun safety changes. The speech followed the Uvalde, Texas, school shooting as well as the supermarket shooting in Buffalo, New York, both in May.
"For God's sake, how much more carnage are we willing to accept?" Biden said. "How many more innocent American lives must be taken before we say enough? Enough."
Gov. Kevin Stitt released a statement regarding the St. Francis shooting following the event, commending Tulsa police and offering Bynum any state resources. The governor also ordered flags to fly at half-staff through sundown Sunday evening, honoring all four victims of the shooting.
“What happened today in Tulsa is a senseless act of violence and hatred. Sarah and I are praying for the families of those who lost their lives and for those who were injured,” Stitt said.
Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) and Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), along with U.S. Rep. Kevin Horn (R-Okla.), released individual statements, offering their prayers and praising first responders.
Norman Mayor Breea Clark and OKC Mayor David Holt both signed a letter from the U.S. Conference of Mayors encouraging the U.S. Senate to take action on gun safety. Over 200 mayors signed the letter, which was originally sent in 2019 following the El Paso, Texas, Walmart shooting and the Ned Peppers Bar shooting in Dayton, Ohio, however, is now being sent again. Bynum did not sign the letter.
“Any elected official that doesn’t have the political courage to take action to address the public health issue that is gun violence in the U.S. does not need to be in office. Period,” Clark wrote in a tweet Thursday.
Norman’s representation in the state Legislature also released statements, including Rep. Emily Virgin (D-Norman) and Rep. Jacob Rosecrants (D-Norman). Both Virgin and Rosecrants emphasized a need for action.
I saw “Oklahoma” trending on Twitter. Figured it was OU softball or weather…but no it’s a shooting attack at a Tulsa clinic where 4 people have been murdered. When I said we have to do SOMETHING in response to #Uvalde, that something has to be more than 🙏We need action. Now. https://t.co/uvWZYaUEVq
— Rep. Jacob Rosecrants 🇺🇦 (@jacobrosecrants) June 2, 2022
Last week, when I did an interview about the horrific shooting in Uvalde, a member of the media asked me if it could happen in Oklahoma. I said yes because there was no reason to say no. Sadly, it did happen here. Tonight. In Tulsa. We must take action NOW.
— Emily Virgin (@EmilyVirginOK) June 2, 2022
At the caucus press conference, Virgin, the Democrat minority leader, said events over the years have shown that more guns do not make people safer.
“We're told on the House floor that the best thing to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun,” Virgin said. “There were good guys with guns in Texas, and over a dozen people lost their lives, and so that argument has been proven to be untrue time and time again.”
OU Health’s Tulsa campus was not directly impacted by the shooting Wednesday and all “friends, colleagues and residents” have been safety accounted for according in a statement from Director of Communications April Sandefer to The Daily.
“The recent series of tragic incidences of gun violence across the country is upsetting to us all. It has hit very close to home for all of us, with the incident at St. Francis in Tulsa,” Sandefer wrote. “These incidences of gun violence are hate-filled and an affront to the values we espouse in healthcare of caring, healing and inclusivity.”
