TULSA: A gunman has killed at least four people at a hospital building in Tulsa, Oklahoma, police said — the latest in a string of mass shootings across the United States in recent weeks.

The killings come as Texas families bury their dead after a school shooting left 19 young children dead just eight days earlier.

The Tulsa shooting suspect, who was armed with a rifle and a handgun during his attack on the Saint Francis hospital campus, died by suicide, police said.

“Right now we have four civilians that are dead, we have one shooter that is dead, and right now we believe that is self-inflicted,” Tulsa Police Department Deputy Chief Eric Dalgleish told reporters.

According to the Gun Violence Archive, there have been 233 mass shootings this year in the United States — more than one such incident per day in 2022 so far.

US media reported the country was hit by a dozen mass shootings over the recent Memorial Day weekend. The United States generally counts mass shootings as involving four or more deaths.

The suspect, identified as Michael Lewis, entered a building on the St. Francis Health System campus with an AR-15-style weapon and opened fire at anyone he encountered, killing two doctors and two other people, Tulsa Police Chief Wendell Franklin said during a news briefing.

The suspect “came in with the intent to kill Dr Phillips and anyone who came in his way,” Franklin said.

Authorities found a letter on Lewis that made it clear that the attack was targeted. Dr Preston Phillips, 59, the surgeon who treated Lewis, was killed along with Dr Stephanie Husen, a 48-year-old sports medicine specialist.

Authorities named two other fatalities as Amanda Green and William Love. It was unclear whether they were patients or staff members. Lewis was released from the hospital on May 24 after back surgery. After his release, he called several times complaining of pain, Franklin said.

The shooting comes on the heels of two other mass killings that have stunned Americans and reopened a long-standing debate over tightening controls on firearms ownership and the role of mental health in the epidemic of gun violence plaguing the United States.

Lewis purchased the semi-automatic rifle he brought to the hospital at a local gun shop earlier on Wednesday, authorities said. He also brought a pistol that he purchased at a pawn shop three days earlier.

Published in Dawn, June 3rd, 2022