(CNN) – At least four people were killed Wednesday in a shooting on a hospital campus in Tulsa, Oklahoma, police said at a news conference Wednesday night.
The gunman is also dead, police said. Authorities believe the shooter’s gunshot wound was self-inflicted, Tulsa Police Department Deputy Chief Eric Dalgleish said at the news conference.
Dispatchers received a call about an active shooter at the Natalie Medical Building, a medical office building on the St. Francis Hospital campus, at approximately 4:52 p.m. local time, Dalgleish said.
Officers responded to the scene at approximately 4:56 p.m. and made contact with the victims and suspect approximately five minutes later, Dalgleish said. Arriving officers could hear gunshots inside the building, which directed them to the second floor, according to the deputy chief.
“The scene is pretty much limited to one section of that floor, on the second floor,” Dalgleish said. At least part of the scene was in an orthopedic office on that floor, according to Dalgleish.
No officers were injured, he added.
Investigators are interviewing witnesses who were in the building, Dalgleish said. A witness was found locked in a closet, she said.
Police said they are “getting closer” to identifying the suspect, who Dalgleish said had a rifle and pistol with him. “It appears that both guns, at one time or another, were fired,” the deputy chief said.
Tulsa Mayor GT Bynum expressed his “deep gratitude” for first responders who “did not hesitate today to respond to this act of violence.”
“The men and women of the Tulsa Police Department did not hesitate,” the mayor said.
LIVE UPDATES: Tulsa hospital campus shooting
A ‘catastrophic’ scene
Earlier Wednesday, Richard Meulenberg, with police, said authorities were continuing to evacuate “multiple floors” of the building, which included “hundreds of rooms and hundreds of people.”
“We are treating this as a catastrophic scene right now,” Meulenberg said.
A reunification site for family and friends has been set up at Memorial High School west of LaFortune Park, police added.
“There is nothing more this community can do for us than pray for the families, loved ones and victims of this senseless act,” said Cliff Robertson, CEO of Saint Francis Health System, at the news conference. .
President Joe Biden has been briefed on the shooting, a White House official said. The White House is closely monitoring the situation and has reached out to state and local officials to offer support.
Also assisting on the scene is the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, ATF Dallas Field Division said On twitter.
“What happened in Tulsa today is a senseless act of violence and hate,” Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt said. wrote On twitter. “I am grateful for the swift and courageous actions of the Tulsa Police Department and other first responders who did everything they could to contain a terrible situation.”
‘I only knew it was a shooting’
Debra Proctor was in another building on the hospital campus for a doctor’s appointment when she heard police sirens wail.
When he got out, first responders were lined up everywhere, he told CNN. Proctor, who has been a registered nurse for more than four decades, called it a “shocking” scene.
“Police were everywhere in the parking lot, up and down the surrounding blocks,” Proctor said. “They were still arriving when I was leaving.”
Kalen Davis, a lifelong resident of Tulsa, was waiting in traffic around 5 pm local time when he saw multiple police cars responding to the scene.
In a video he shared with CNN, authorities can be seen running toward a building with their guns drawn. Two officers are seen pulling long guns from their trunks as more emergency vehicles race to the scene.
“I knew it was a shooting situation because I saw police running around with rifles,” Davis, 45, told CNN. “That’s when I got excited.”
Reference-www.wishtv.com