MSNBC correspondent Vaugh Hillyard joined an extended edition of Andrea Mitchell Reports on Thursday from Tulsa, Oklahoma, to report on the mass shooting that occurred at Saint Francis Hospital on Wednesday. While Hillyard would report there was still much unknown about the shooter and his weapons, Hillyard still felt confident enough to imply that Oklahoma, specifically Gov. Kevin Stitt, deserve some of the blame.
After Mitchell asked him to provide the latest information on the shooting, Vaugh reported that details on the firearms used were sparse, “This is a situation here in which the gunman, authorities say, had two weapons on him. One was a—was a—firearm, another was a rifle here. The exact aspects of this rifle are not known here at this time and that is what we are hoping to get a better sense of information from law enforcement.”
Still despite admitting he did not have all the facts, Vaugh reminded viewers that “you’re talking about Oklahoma, a state where, back in 2020, the governor signed into law what is—what’s-- called an anti-red flag law, which would prohibit any local municipalities from being able to implement red flag laws which would allow, in the situation, in which a family member, another individual were to raise concerns in the specter of, that a particular individual may pose a threat to themselves or others.”
As if those two things were not bad enough, Hillyard then repeated that he did not have all the facts on the Rifle, but also the shooter himself, “We do not know the current and exact situation about this particular individual, or what the exact aspects of that rifle were, but what we do know is that this individual entered the second floor of the Saint Francis Hospital, it’s a sprawling complex, yesterday afternoon.”
If you do not possess all the relevant information on both the shooter or the guns used, then do not comment on whether or not gun laws are to blame.
Hillyard’s premature conclusions proved to be wrong, because within the hour, a law enforcement press conference would reveal the shooter purchased the weapons hours before the shooting, meaning his family would not have the time to invoke a red flag law, because he blamed a doctor for his post-back surgery pain.
This segment was sponsored by Walmart.
Here is a transcript for the June 2 show:
MSNBC Andrea Mitchell Reports
6/2/2022
11:02 AM ET
ANDREA MITCHELL: Vaughn, first to you. So, what is the very latest from another mass shooting, law enforcement will be speaking very shortly in Oklahoma about the shooter, the investigation now underway.
VAUGHN HILLYARD: Yeah Andrea, we're awaiting these new details from law enforcement any moment now here in Tulsa. What we do know is that there were four civilians that were killed last night here by a gunman who also killed himself upon inflicting gunshot wounds.
This is a situation here in which the gunman, authorities say, had two weapons on him. One was a—was a—firearm, another was a rifle here. The exact aspects of this rifle are not known here at this time and that is what we are hoping to get a better sense of information from law enforcement.
Again, this is situation, here in which, you’re talking about Oklahoma, a state where, back in 2020, the governor signed into law what is—what’s-- called an anti-red flag law, which would prohibit any local municipalities from being able to implement red flag laws which would allow, in the situation, in which a family member, another individual were to raise concerns in the specter of, that a particular individual may pose a threat to themselves or others. That law enforcement could go and take possession of those firearms.
We do not know the current and exact situation about this particular individual, or what the exact aspects of that rifle were, but what we do know is that this individual entered the second floor of the Saint Francis Hospital, it’s a sprawling complex, yesterday afternoon.
Law enforcement has said he was, it was not a random act of violence, but instead was targeting one specific area. This was an orthopedic center here whether he was targeting one individual is not known, but unlike in Uvalde we know that the response time from police was quite different here. The police say that just three minutes after 911 calls started coming in that police responded and it was within four-to-five minutes they were able to reach that gunman before, again they believe, he ultimately died of self-inflicted gunshot wounds, Andrea.
