In mid-May, a man in the US city of Tulsa underwent back surgery. Even weeks later, the patient complains of pain. He buys two guns, drives to the doctor treating him in a hospital and pulls the trigger. Five people die.
A week after the massacre at a Texas elementary school, a man shot dead four people and himself in a hospital in Oklahoma. The shooter’s target was his doctor, whom he blamed for his persistent back pain after surgery, Tulsa Police Chief Wendell Franklin said.
The day before, the perpetrator had killed his doctor, another doctor, a receptionist and a patient in a building of St. Francis Hospital and then shot himself. He was armed with an assault rifle and a handgun, which he had legally acquired on the day of the crime or three days earlier. The police chief said a letter was found on the perpetrator stating that he intended to kill his doctor “and anyone in his path”. That was his “clear motive”.
The man had his back operated on by his doctor in the hospital on May 19 and continued to have pain afterwards. On May 31, he had another doctor’s appointment. The next day – the day of the crime – he complained in a call about persistent back pain. Franklin said police officers arrived three minutes after the 911 call. Chief Medical Officer Ryan Parker said several people were injured in the attack but no one is being treated at the hospital.
The United States is currently being rocked by a spate of acts in which gunmen open fire and kill several people. The White House announced that US President Joe Biden would comment on the recent incidents in the evening (local time). He said he wanted to underline “that Congress must act to pass sensible legislation to combat the gun violence epidemic that is killing people every day.”
Just last Tuesday, an 18-year-old opened fire at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas. The gunman entrenched himself in a classroom and killed 19 children and two teachers. The police are massively criticized for their late intervention. More than 75 minutes after the shooter opened fire, emergency services entered the classroom and killed the gunman.
A few days earlier, a gunman shot dead ten people and injured three others in a supermarket in Buffalo, New York. According to investigators, this act was racially motivated – 11 of the 13 victims were black. Charges will be brought against the suspected shooter in Buffalo on Thursday. The Washington Post reported he faces 25 counts, including domestic terrorism and murder as a hate crime.
The Uvalde killing spree in particular has once again fueled the debate about tightening gun laws in the USA. Democrat Biden has spoken out strongly in favor of it. For years, however, many Republicans have opposed stricter regulations, such as a ban on assault rifles. The US has long struggled with massive levels of gun violence. In 2020, gun injuries were the number one killer of children and adolescents in the United States, ahead of traffic accidents.
