By Steve Olafson
OKLAHOMA CITY, April 8 (Reuters) – Police acting on a tip
arrested two white men on Sunday for a shooting spree in Tulsa
that left three dead, two wounded and rattled the predominantly
black neighborhood.
Tulsa police spokesman Jason Willingham said police were not
prepared to label the shootings racially motivated hate crimes
after the arrest of Jake England, 19, and Alvin Watts, 32, on
murder charges just before 2 a.m. (0600 GMT) Sunday.
“At this point we don’t have a motive,” Willingham said.
“Obviously there’s still a lot of investigation to do. Hopefully
in the coming days we’ll be more clear on what exactly the
reason was.”
In response to a tip, police put the suspects under
surveillance and they were arrested at a home north of Tulsa,
Willingham said. England and Watts were charged with three
counts of first-degree murder and two counts of shooting with
intent to kill, police said.
The shootings early Friday set the predominantly black north
side of Tulsa on edge after a victim told police the gunman was
a white man in a pickup truck who stopped and asked for
directions before opening fire.
FBI and U.S. marshals joined the manhunt, swelling the task
force to 30 officers, Willingham said.
“It’s been a long 48 hours but we’re glad we were able to
get them into custody. It’s been an all hands on deck type
situation to get these guys in custody,” he said.
The shootings took place at about 1 a.m. on Friday and
within a mile (1.6 km) radius in the predominantly black
neighborhood of North Tulsa, police said.
One body was found a short distance away, outside a funeral
home, but police believe that victim may have been killed at the
same time as the others.
Although all five of the victims were black, Tulsa Police
Chief Chuck Jordan said on Saturday it was too early to know
whether the shootings were racially motivated.
“The whole race issue, the hate crime issue, there’s a very
logical theory that would say that’s what it could be, but I’m a
police officer. I’ve got to go by the evidence,” Jordan said,
adding that no racial slurs had been used by the gunman.
Among the dead was one woman, identified as Dannaer Fields,
49, and two men, Bobby Clark, 54, and William Allen, 31. The two
wounded men, who were not identified, were expected to survive.
Tulsa City Councilman Jack Henderson, who represents the
district in which the shootings took place, said witnesses told
police the suspect drove through the neighborhood, stopping
several people on the street and asking for directions.
The pedestrians spoke briefly with the man but began walking
away after they could not help him with directions, Henderson
said. The driver then shot at them, killing one, and sped away,
he said.
A witness told police he or she was sitting in front of a
house when a man pulled up in a white Chevrolet pickup truck
with rust spots on the hood and asked for directions.
After a brief exchange, the suspect produced a handgun and
fired, striking two people before driving off, police said.
(Editing By Barbara Goldberg and Todd Eastham)
