- The site of the mass shooting in Tulsa was described by law enforcement as a "catastrophic scene."
- Law enforcement said at least four people were killed in the attack.
- The police said the shooter died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
A Tulsa police captain on Wednesday described the "catastrophic" scene inside the Oklahoma medical center which became the site of a tragic mass shooting on Wednesday.
At least four people were killed by a gunman who opened fire inside the Natalie Medical Building at the St. Francis Hospital in Tulsa. According to the Tulsa police, the man was carrying both a rifle and a handgun. The shooter later died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, per law enforcement.
Police captain Richard Meulenberg told the Associated Press that law enforcement had encountered a "catastrophic scene" within the medical complex.
Police and health officials also told the AP that they were not ready to identify the shooting victims yet, who were inside the building — within which an outpatient surgery clinic and breast health center is located.
Tulsa Police Department Deputy Chief Eric Dalgleish said on Wednesday evening that the suspect was a Black man, estimated to be between 35 and 40 years old. Dalgleish added that the scene of the mass shooting was limited to one section of the second floor. It is not clear whether the shooter was a patient, Dalgleish said.
Dalgleish said as well that there was a "three-minute response" from the police, and believed that it took officers around five minutes from the time the call was received to engage with and subdue the shooter.
Cliff Robertson, the CEO of the Saint Francis Health System, said that there will be a "bumpy road" ahead for the health system as it recovers from the attack.
"There are over 10,000 people that are part of the St. Francis Health System that every day commit their lives to taking care of people in need," Robertson said. "This senseless, horrible, incomprehensible act is not going to change that."
The shooting comes just one week and a day after 21 people — including 19 children — were killed in a mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, and 18 days after a gunman opened fire at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, killing 10 people.
According to NPR, this is the 233rd mass shooting of 2022 that the US has seen.