Four shootings in north Tulsa may be connected; three dead, two hurt

[OKNancy]

Source: Tulsa World

Police believe that four shootings that left three people dead and two others injured at separate locations and times early Friday were all connected in what they are calling an "unprecedented" event.

Lead homicide detective Sgt. Dave Walker said police were able to tie the shootings together because of the similarities in what the victims were doing when they were shot, when they occurred and their proximity - within three miles of each other in north Tulsa.

All of the victims were walking through neighborhoods when they were shot, Walker said.

"There is no forensic evidence to link at this point," he said. "Timing and location lead us to believe they may be connected."

Police are still trying to determine the circumstances surrounding the shootings but don't believe the victims knew each other.

Because all the victims were black, the local chapter of the NAACP and other local black leaders met Friday evening in an effort to calm unrest while promoting safety.


Tulsa City Councilor Jack Henderson (left), NAACP Tulsa Chapter President the Rev. Warren Blakney and pastor Millard Jones meet Friday at the North Peoria Church of Christ about the north Tulsa shootings that left three people dead and two others injured

--------------------------------------
Another link in case the Tulsa World is subscription only ( also contains video)
http://www.kjrh.com/dpp/news/local_news/community-leaders-call-shooting-spree-a-hate-crime

TULSA - Community leaders in North Tulsa are calling Friday morning's shooting spree a hate crime.

The shooting spree left three people dead and two others seriously wounded.

Police believe the victims were targeted at random.



Read more: http://www.tulsaworld.com/specialprojects/news/crimewatch/article.aspx?subjectid=450&articleid=20120407_11_A1_CUTLIN116532

[UnrepentantLiberal]

1. I guess you could see this coming.

[nanabugg]

2. Time for the President to make a firm statement and time for citizens to take on the NRA and gun law

enforcement. I know there are cameras somewhere. NO MORE COVER UPS!!!

[ObamaFTW2012]

29. Right

I'm sure tough gun laws will prevent these sort of incidents, just like tough drug laws have prevented a drug epidemic.

[malaise]

3. It's open season for shooting black people

Some folks are desperate for race riots.

[ObamaFTW2012]

10. Unfortunately

It's been open season for shooting black folks for a long time. Worse yet, it's mostly black people killing other black people.

[Frances]

20. Why are you so mean?

[ObamaFTW2012]

21. Huh?

What are you talking about?

I am a black man lamenting over the sad truth. What's "mean" about that? Doesn't it bother you that the greatest threat to black people is other black people?

[emilyg]

30. Where I live this is

true. Rampant black on black crime. Prez. needs to address this.

[ObamaFTW2012]

33. We all do

Nothing will ever change if people don't start accepting responsibility for their lives and work to improve themselves.

[emilyg]

35. Your words should become

a motto. Excellent.

[FarPoint]

45. May I ask you this brief question?

What does the the " FTW" mean to you? It's in your user name coupled with Obama....our President I presume you are referencing in your user name... I'm puzzled., Can you help a DU'er out?

[ObamaFTW2012]

46. "For The Win"

[FarPoint]

47. I heard it meant something very different

and repulsive.... 'F**k The World."...that's why clarification was essential.

[bemildred]

49. Could be "For The World".

Just saying.

[FarPoint]

51. I guess.

I Googled it and got both meaning and a few more.

[ObamaFTW2012]

52. I've never heard that before

"For The Win" is the only meaning I've ever known.

[WCGreen]

75. this shot is for the win...

I hear it in sports all the time.

[TheMadMonk]

67. AND until the mostly white "haves" stop kicking them in the teeth.

For a so called "Land of Opportunity, you are collectively, a mighty fucking Calvanistic bunch.

[ObamaFTW2012]

68. I don't feel the financial disparity is race-based

I am not rich, but I would say I have climbed from poverty to being a "have". I own a business, I live in a gated community, and I have several nice cars and a truck.

I grew up without a father, just as millions of black kids do. I ate government cheese (literally), Spam sandwiches and water for lunches, and usually didn't get breakfast. Our apartment was always cold in the winter and hot in the summer because we couldn't afford to heat it and didn't have AC.

I saw the "haves" when I was a "have not" kid, and decided I wanted to be one. Yeah, they were mostly white folks, but I never saw my family's financial situation being the result of white peoples' efforts to keep us down. We were poor because my mom made bad decisions, which she learned from my grandmother.

While the white man kept black people down for generations after Lincoln freed the slaves, today the only thing keeping black people down is black people. Many don't want to work because they feel white people owe them a free ride. They would rather game the system by having "babymommas" than wives, so their kids will be paid for by the taxpayer. They swipe their EBT's for basic foods and then do a cash transaction to buy beer, cigarettes, steaks, etc.

We have government programs that throw college money at anybody with brown skin, but they don't mean much when young black girls get pregnant and drop out of high school so often that it's surprising when they don't.

The opportunity to succeed is there. Did you know that Disney includes in it's construction contracts a certification that the contractor will use a minimum percentage of MWBE (Minority & Women Business Enterprises) owned trades and services? They expect the contractor to share the wealth with black people.

White people just aren't to blame anymore for the widespread poverty amongst black people.

[unionworks]

72. you sound just like Herman Cain

...in my opinion. The Horatio Alger meme is bullshit, and not just for black people. It is a lie to keep the 99% in line.

[ObamaFTW2012]

77. My life is what it is.

I'm sorry if you believe my life is bullshit, and I don't care if you think I sound like Herman Cain.

I guess I shouldn't have succeeded in life so I can conform to your expectation of black people. Should I wear my pants under my ass, put some 22" rims on my "ride", and grow some dreads too?

[unionworks]

80. Never said

....your life was bullshit. Congradulations on making it. I don't think it's all about race either. The Horatio Alger myth that if you only work hard and apply yourself, you too can be rich iswhat I call bullshit on. You pulled yourself up, and that's great. For every one who makes it out of poverty, there are a 100,000 who never will no matter if they make all the right choices or not. It is the obscene disparity of wealth I have the problem with, not with you having what you worked for. I want for many more what you have. Not to take yours away.

[Beacool]

38. No one seems to want to focus on this problem.

As tragic as Trayvon's death was (Zimmerman should have been arrested and should be facing trial), how come no one mentions the 40 plus AAs shot in Chicago in a span of a couple of days? Why doesn't the president speak of the epidemic of young AA men killing other young AA men? There isn't one week that my local paper doesn't have an article of an AA youth being shot by another AA youth in a neighboring town (the town I'm referring to is Jersey City, NJ).

"At least 10 people were killed and 40 others wounded in one of the most violent Chicago weekends in recent history.

The Chicago Sun-Times reports that most of the victims were in their mid-teens or early 30s, with the exception of 6-year-old Aliyah Shell, who was gunned down Saturday while playing in front of her home in the Little Village neighborhood."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/19/10-dead-chicago-shootings-_n_1362604.html

Where's Obama on this, or is the death of an AA youth only worthy of his attention when a white person kills him? Couldn't these young people also have looked like his children?

[qanda]

69. The only people who have killed my black relatives and friends are other black people

My cousin's murderer was just sentenced a week ago to 17-30 years. This guy used an assault rifle to shoot up a car my cousin was riding in. There were children in the car and only by the grace of God they weren't killed also. This kid said that he got the wrong person-- I guess it was mistaken identity but my cousin is gone and will never return. That would be sad enough if he were the only member of my family to die violently at the hands of another black person but I could name so many other cases of family and close friends who have died in this manner.

Still, what makes this extra sad is the fact that it seems that there is open season on black men and they are not safe anywhere and with anyone-- what do I tell my 15 year old son other than keep a low profile and try not to bring too much attention to yourself? He has to be a certain way so he doesn't become a target of other black boys and then another way so he doesn't become a target of the police or people like Zimmerman. What do I tell him? He is an endangered species.

[LanternWaste]

82. Not in this case, apparently...

Not in this case, apparently... Just another case of racism at its most violent.


FTL

[OKNancy]

4. I know people will think the worst of Tulsa, but I am

really certain the Tulsa police will not act like the Stanford police did. As far as I can tell from tidbits I have heard... they are busting their butts trying to find the shooter.

[Behind the Aegis]

5. That's because we live here and know "the score."

I agree with your assessment.

[CanonRay]

7. Tulsa has as bad a racial history as Selma

or anywhere else in the South.

[CatWoman]

8. isn't that where the "Black Wall Street" murders occurred?

[madrchsod]

13. "before they die"

http://www.elcinfo.com/beforetheydie.php

http://www.beforetheydiemovie.com/

[Liber-AL]

64. Yes, and i believe the black female pastor of a church in Andarko was killed there several...

years ago too. I wonder if there is a link between her murder and the present rash of shootings?

[OKNancy]

12. Yes, I'm aware of that since I have lived here

for over 30 years and also taught Oklahoma History.

[Coyote_Bandit]

36. The Tulsa race riots occurred in 1921

Other cities that were having race riots at that time include Chicago, Omaha, Baltimore, Washington, DC, and Philadelphia. Oklahoma had been a state for less than 15 years when the Tulsa riots occurred.

In the past couple of decades both the city and state have made considerable efforts to address the racial divisions here and have extended appologies and some limited reparations after the Oklahoma legislatue in a bipartisian effort created a council on reparations in the mid 90s which made several recommendations regarding reparations.

In 2003 five elderly survivors of the race riots brought suit seeking damages based on the findings of that reparations council. Both the federal district and appellate courts dismissed the 80 year old cause of action based on the statute of limitations.

Just last fall a publicly funded memorial was dedicated to those who died in the riots.

[noiretextatique]

59. so much for the argument that reparations should only be paid to living victims

a damn shame that these people had their lives and property legally stolen from them. damn shame.

[Coyote_Bandit]

60. The suit that was brought by the survivors

did not seek reparations or damages for themselves but rather educational and health care resources for current residents of the area impacted by the riots.

[noiretextatique]

79. not so sure about that...

The division between white and black inhabitants of Tulsans was so deep that the end of the riot did not even begin to bring reconciliation. The widespread destruction of Greenwood was not sufficient for whites who wanted to make an even greater separation between themselves and the blacks. Tulsa pioneer businessman, W. Tate Brady, was appointed to the Tulsa Real Estate Exchange ("The Exchange&quot a week after the riot. This organization had been created by the Tulsa Chamber of Commerce to estimate the value of property damaged or destroyed in Greenwood. The Exchange contrived a scheme to relocate black Tulsans farther north and east of the original Greenwood. In cooperation with the City Commission, the Exchange prepared new building codes for the original Greenwood that would make rebuilding prohibitively expensive for the original owners. The land could then be redeveloped as a commercial and industrial district - no longer residential. The plan was never implemented because the Oklahoma Supreme Court overruled the proposed ordinances as unconstitutional. The lead attorney in this case was B. C. Franklin, father of historian John Hope Franklin.[21]
[edit]Reconciliation

In 1996, following increased attention to the riot because of the 75th anniversary of the event, the state legislature authorized the Tulsa Race Riot Commission, to study and prepare a "historical account" of the riot. The study "enjoyed strong support from members of both political parties and all political persuasions."[22] The Commission delivered its report on February 21, 2001.[23][24]
The report recommended actions for substantial restitution; in order of priority:
Direct payment of reparations to survivors of the 1921 Tulsa race riot;
Direct payment of reparations to descendants of the survivors of the Tulsa race riot;
A scholarship fund available to students affected by the Tulsa race riot;
Establishment of an economic development enterprise zone in the historic area of the Greenwood district; and
A memorial for the reburial of the remains of the victims of the Tulsa race riot.[25]
The Tulsa Reparations Coalition, sponsored by the Center for Racial Justice, Inc., was formed on April 7, 2001 to obtain restitution for the damages suffered by Tulsa's Black community, as recommended by the Oklahoma Commission.
In June 2001, the Oklahoma state legislature passed the "1921 Tulsa Race Riot Reconciliation Act." While falling short of the Commission's recommendations, it provided for the following:
More than 300 college scholarships for descendants of Greenwood residents;
Creation of a memorial to those who died in the riot, which was dedicated on October 27, 2010;[26] and
Economic development in Greenwood.[27]
The government has made limited attempts to find suspected mass graves used to bury the unknown numbers of black dead. The Commission reported that they were not authorized to do the necessary archaeological work to verify the claims.
Five elderly survivors of the riot, led by a legal team including Johnnie Cochran and Charles Ogletree, filed suit against the city of Tulsa and the state of Oklahoma (Alexander, et al., v. Oklahoma, et al.) in February 2003, based on the findings of the 2001 report. Ogletree said the state and city should compensate the victims and their families "to honor their admitted obligations as detailed in the commission's report."[28] The plaintiffs did not seek reparations as such; rather, they asked for the establishment of educational and health-care resources for current residents of Greenwood.[29] The federal district and appellate courts dismissed the suit, citing the statute of limitations on the 80-year-old case,[30] and the US Supreme Court refused to hear the appeal. In April 2007, Ogletree appealed to the US Congress to pass a bill extending the statute of limitations for the case.[31]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulsa_race_riot

[Coyote_Bandit]

81. From your own post with emphasis added:

Five elderly survivors of the riot, led by a legal team including Johnnie Cochran and Charles Ogletree, filed suit against the city of Tulsa and the state of Oklahoma (Alexander, et al., v. Oklahoma, et al.) in February 2003, based on the findings of the 2001 report. Ogletree said the state and city should compensate the victims and their families "to honor their admitted obligations as detailed in the commission's report." The plaintiffs did not seek reparations as such; rather, they asked for the establishment of educational and health-care resources for current residents of Greenwood. The federal district and appellate courts dismissed the suit, citing the statute of limitations on the 80-year-old case, and the US Supreme Court refused to hear the appeal. In April 2007, Ogletree appealed to the US Congress to pass a bill extending the statute of limitations for the case.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulsa_race_riot

[unionworks]

6. I Fear

From seeing what is going on in Sanford, that we may be seeing the beginning of a coordinated plan by nazis/hate groups to start widespread racial violence. What better way to put the fear of a black president into white voters? Hope the FBI comes down on the bastards like a ton of bricks.

[CatWoman]

16. and just what the fuck are you talking about?

[bemildred]

23. He thinks the MSM is screwing us abused white people over, from what I can tell.

One of those cases where sarcasm smileys would be most helpful, but are unfortunately absent.

[Beacool]

55. I think that he's referring to the NBC edited 911 audio tapes.

NBC fired the producer who edited the tapes. As for ABC, they showed a blurred video and everyone jumped to the conclusion that Zimmerman didn't have any lacerations to the back of the head, on close examination he had some. Although, I still think that his nose did not appear to be broken.

[lonestarnot]

18. I don't know whether to be disgusted or confussed here. So yeah what the fuck are you talking about

?

[MH1]

25. I suspect pizza delivery is on its way.

can't imagine that one will be around much longer. I didn't look at its other two posts but if they're anything like that one ...

[Beacool]

56. Do you have proof?

What I see so far is a cop wannabe who shouldn't have been allowed to own a gun.

The Tulsa shooter may be just a lone wolf, it's still too soon to determine if he's acting alone or not. I just hope that they catch him fast before he hurts more people.

[MJJP21]

9. Another random shooting

There was another random shooting in Wilkes Barre PA of a 14 year old walking home also black.

[chrisa]

11. Without rushing to judgment

I hope they find the person that did this. Sometimes initial reports are unreliable, and it could have been separate incidents.

However, I hope they find the person or people that did this.

[guitar man]

14. Tragic and disgusting

Ive lived in Tulsa since 1990, I have a lot of friends here including a bunch on the north side. Let this asshole keep screwing around out there and see what happens next. I know plenty of people out there that are quietly armed to the teeth. He does it again and he could wind up looking like Swiss cheese.

[Auntie Bush]

26. I'm all for that. I like the looks of Swiss cheese.

[DiverDave]

17. I read the article in the local rag

and they have a PISTOL for sale ad on the page...
And the comments, my god people are so fucking heartless.

[Johnny Rico]

24. And in an article about someone running someone over they may have an ad for a car.

It's just a tool...

[Ikonoklast]

27. Which of the victims of the gun violence was run down by a car?

Must defend guns at all cost, any cost, at all times.

Must make ridiculous equivocations that would get laughed out of a court of law.


Just a tool.

Indeed, just a tool.

Would you agree that perhaps the tool used was used illegally, and the the person who owned the tool may have owned and used it in a legal manner right up to the moment he decided not to?

[Johnny Rico]

28. Sure. Just like someone can own and use the tool called a "car" in a legal manner

right up to the moment he decided not to.

So what?

[Ikonoklast]

31. The use of a car isn't specifically mentioned in the Constitution as a means of defence

against government tyranny.

Again, silly equivocations.

Try to overthrow a government by the use of automobiles as the primary weapons, then get back to me.

[Johnny Rico]

34. Which is why the bearing of arms is Constitutionally protected and ownership of cars isn't.

[rfranklin]

40. Try using your popgun to defend against the government drones...

and other goodies. It ain't gonna happen.

Not to mention the fact that a majority of gun owners would rather shoot Democrats than G-men.

[Johnny Rico]

43. Are you arguing that the bearing of arms *isn't* Constitutionally protected?

Not to mention the fact that a majority of gun owners would rather shoot Democrats than G-men.

That's quite a "fact" you've pulled out there. I don't suppose you have documentation?

[rfranklin]

48. Never said anything about the Constitution...

I was using a bit of hyperbole but the NRA, its members and sympathizers have demonstrated animous towards Dems as long as I can remember.

[Johnny Rico]

50. They're a single issue advocacy group, and Democrats are (on average) much more

Anti-gun rights than Repuplicans.

I was using a bit of hyperbole

Asserting the "fact" that the majority of gun owners want to kill Democrats?

Ya think?

[AtheistCrusader]

65. What a bunch of bullshit.

"Not to mention the fact that a majority of gun owners would rather shoot Democrats than G-men."

Even informal surveys here on DU reveal enormous numbers of democrats owning guns.

[Ikonoklast]

58. Then stop with the stupid equivocations about cars killing people and guns killing people.

You don't even see how foolish it is, do you?

[DisgustipatedinCA]

53. once again, whenever is someone is murdered, you show up to love on guns

Please take your cult of death and violence back to the hole it came from. Thank you.

[DFW]

19. No forensic evidence to connect?

Weren't ballistics tests done on the slugs? If any were recovered, then it should be easy enough to determine if they were fired from the same gun or not.

If the shooter is found, and it's one guy, and his motive was pure hate, I hope his organs are harvested while he is alive and without anesthetic. Nothing is too vile for someone so vile.

[bluedigger]

22. Give them a little time already.

They don't do all that CSI wizardry in an hour, with commercial breaks. They have multiple crime scenes they are investigating simultaneously, and I doubt Tulsa has the resources to do that easily.

[marshall gaines]

32. careful

In this mean and racially divisive political season, we all have to be on our toes not to allow the extremists to dictate our actions related to the few hateful and murderous individuals that are trying to start something that could happen in this country and get out of hand with the prodding of the limbaughs, glenn becks and o'reillys...race war.

[HipChick]

37. If this was a black man, randomly shooting at white victims...

I wonder if the story would be reading a little different by now..

[OKNancy]

42. I don't understand what this post means

It's pretty early on in the investigation.
What do you mean the story would be different?

[Coyote_Bandit]

62. There have been a couple of rather prominent cases here recently

where whites were attacked and killed by blacks. Random attacks in the sense that there was no prior relationship between victims and perpetrators.

One involved a couple of 19 year olds that were killed execution style on a wallking path in a city park.

The other involves an elderly couple that were victims of a home invasion. The wife was raped and killed. Both were attacked.

If you don't follow Tulsa news you probably haven't heard about either of these cases.

[Beacool]

39. I hope that they arrest the sick bastard before he kills more people.

We live in such a violent society, so much senseless killing.

Another unnecessary death.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/06/rekia-boyd-lawsuit-family_n_1408640.html?ref=chicago&icid=maing-grid7%7Cmain5%7Cdl1%7Csec1_lnk2%26pLid%3D150009

[OKNancy]

41. Follow-up article

Tulsa’s black community unnerved by shootings

TULSA, Okla. — Tulsa’s black community was on edge Saturday after police said the same attacker or attackers were behind a series of shootings a day earlier that left three people dead and two more critically wounded.

Police are still waiting for the results of forensic tests, but investigators think the early Friday morning shootings are linked because they happened around the same time within a three-mile span and all five victims were out walking when they were shot.

Officer Jason Willingham said Saturday that police are searching for a white man driving a white pickup, which was spotted in the area of three of the shootings. At least two dozen officers are investigating the case, along with the FBI and U.S. Marshals Service, Willingham said.

“We don’t have one definitive way where this investigation is headed,” Willingham said. “Right now, that’s the only thing we have to go on.”

http://www.suntimes.com/news/nation/11768237-418/tulsas-black-community-unnerved-by-shootings.html

[bluedigger]

44. A white guy in a white pickup.

Well, that narrows the search down to a third of the population...

[OKNancy]

57. No one in my neighborhood drives a pickup

in fact I don't know anyone who does. Have you ever been to Tulsa?

[Coyote_Bandit]

63. Really?

Just off the top of my head I can think of about ten people in my circle of acquaintences in Tulsa that I know who drive pick-ups - including a couple of women.

[OKNancy]

74. I live south, so you could be right

Funny thing. I told my 27 yr old daughter about the pick-up (sidetrack) discussion.
She said, not around here, but my girlfriends like pick-ups. "Lesbians adore trucks".

[Coyote_Bandit]

76. I also live south

and the women I know who drive pickups are married with kids and own small businesses - not lesbians.

I guess my friends will be able to carry my yard waste off to the green waste site when the new trash rules take effect.

I'm a 50ish straight singe female. An avid gardener. Someone who often buys and refinishes old furniture and I have a lot of artistc interests. I get really tired of having to borrow (or rent) a pickup to transport stuff - or pay delivery fees. During the big snow of 2011 I was completely unable to leave my neighborhood. Somebody with a big pickup came and picked me up several times so I could get out. My vehicle would have been high centered and dragging bottom on the deep snow and ice ruts. My next vehicle will most likely be a 4 x 4 pick-up.

Having that truck will also make it easier and cheaper to move. I have elderly parents who live in another state that will eventually require my assistance. I'd prefer to go there rather than bring them here.

[bluedigger]

70. I think I drove through it once. It wasn't memorable.

You must live in a pretty good neighborhood if nobody has a white truck. They're thick as fleas everywhere else in the South Central US. Plenty on my block here in CO. But, of course, I was exaggerating for effect, not looking to commit offence.

[EFerrari]

73. We're just outside of San Jose and seems like every other neighbor

has a white pickup or suv. My mom drives a white suv. Second most popular are black pickups and suvs. I don't get it but there it is.

[Marrah_G]

54. This is really horrifying.

I feel like we are going back in time rather then forward.

[workinclasszero]

61. Do they have a "Stand Your Ground" law in Oklahoma?

If they do and they catch the killer alive that will probably be his line of defense.

[Liber-AL]

66. You may find the killer in the following OK enclave:

Elohim City is a secretive, armed community of Christian Identity (white supremacist) devotees in eastern Oklahoma, an apparent stop on the underground railroad for various anti-government groups.

[unionworks]

71. Holy Shit

I just read thw Wiki article on this place, it seems you are on to something. This place and the people who run it have a history of involvement with terrorist/criminal activity going back to the 70's, and yet they are allowed to continue? WTF?

[madokie]

78. The boys are in jail now

How sweet is that? In one 24 hour period the murders are committed and the murderers are arrested. Oh, we jail those kind here in Ok too.