Five Blacks Shot, Three Die in Tulsa

Tulsa Chief of Police Chuck Gordon and Mayor Dewey Bartlett /AP James Gibbard

Black residents of North Tulsa are taking extra precautions today in the aftermath of five separate shooting incidents Friday that left three people dead and two in critical condition. Police are searching for a white man driving a white pick-up that was spotted at the scene for three of the shootings. All of the victims were walking when they were attacked. One told police that the man in the pick-up stopped to ask directions and then opened fire.

Tulsa's police department has a history of problems and faced accusations of corruption. In December, a former federal agent and three ex-policemen received jail terms for using false search warrants, committing  perjury, and stealing money, among other charges. Against that backdrop, the Reverend Warren Blakney Sr., president of the Tulsa NAACP, said "avid distrust" between the black community and the police department had raised concerns that the shootings wouldn't be fully investigated, so he contacted the police to emphasize the importance of cooperation with the Black community to keep the investigation from becoming contentious.


Police released the names of those killed as  Dannaer Fields, 49, Bobby Clark, 54, and William Allen, 31. Fields was found wounded, Clark on a street, and, ironically, Allen died outside a funeral home. Officers found the other two men  in another yard two blocks away and took them to hospitals in critical condition.


Ham on Wry hopes this case is handled quickly and effectively to quell any unrest that emerges around suspicion that these crimes were racially motivated.