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Dr. Preston J. Phillips was a Harvard Medical School graduate who worked at the Yale New Haven Hospital for years during his residency before ultimately landing as an orthopedic surgeon at the hospital where he was murdered.
Phillips, age 59, was one of four people who were shot and killed by Michael Louis - also known as Michelet Louis - on Wednesday, June 1, when the gunman purchased an assault rifle and gunned them down at the Warren Clinic Orthopedic Surgery and Sports Medicine.
Police said that Phillips then turned the gun on himself.
The incident was reportedly sparked after Louis got back surgery and complained of subsequent pain, leading to the fatal mass shooting, police said.
Thomas Balcezak, the Chief Clinical Officer at Yale-New Haven Health issued a statement following the confirmation of Phillips’ death to the media.
“On behalf of the entire Yale-New Haven Health family, I offer our deepest sympathies to the Saint Francis Health System family over the horrific loss of Preston Phillips and his colleagues.
“Dr. Phillips was a resident in the Orthopedic Surgery Residency Training program at Yale-New Haven Hospital from 1990 to 1996,” he stated. “As an academic health institution and as physicians, we must recommit ourselves to finding a better path forward by bolstering support for behavioral health services as we do everything in our power to eliminate the scourge of gun violence in our communities.”
Phillips' profile has been removed from the Saint Francis Health System website in the wake of his death.
Others killed in the shooting were Dr. Stephanie J. Husen who specialized in sports medicine, receptionist Amanda Glenn and patient William Love.
Prior to the fatal shooting in Tulsa, Yale-New Haven Health CEO Christopher O’Connor released a statement condemning the recent rash of fatal mass shootings.
“It was less than 10 years ago that we were devastated by the deaths of school children and teachers in Sandy Hook (Connecticut),” he said.
“The memory of those lost lives burns fiercely today as we gather in support of those family members, friends, teachers, and students who mourn those struck down in the spring of their youth in Uvalde, as well as those killed in Buffalo.
“As we process yet another, gut-wrenching tragedy of this nature, we must recommit ourselves to finding a better path forward by bolstering support for behavioral health services as we do everything in our power to eliminate the scourge of gun violence in our communities.”
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