Officials in Oklahoma are still searching for a primary suspect believed to have shot four people, killing one, in Tulsa Wednesday evening.
The Tulsa Police Department warned the community to remain vigilant as the suspect who is believed to have shot four victims outside a home near 31st Street and Harvard is considered "armed and dangerous." One died of their injuries, police said.
TPD Captain Richard Meulenberg told reporters at the scene that the shooting escalated from an argument that persisted throughout the day.
"This was an absolutely tragic incident," Meulenberg said, "where people were arguing with one another, that erupted into horrific gun violence and someone’s lost their life because of it."
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Two victims are in critical condition while the status of the third victim is not known. All the victims, including the sole deceased victim, were described as Black males in their 20s.
The police captain said the shooting is believed to have been targeted and that the suspect used a handgun, although he said a weapon was not recovered at the scene.
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"This is not a random shooting, so it’s not as if we had a homicidal manic just shooting random people, he clearly had a specific target or group of targets here, but he’s still armed and dangerous. So, whether he has other targets, whether he’ll do something irrational if backed into a corner, we don’t know that right now," Meulenberg said.
He continued: "It is a problem that we see in this country where people just can’t figure out their problems, and they go straight to violence."
Meulenberg said there was at least one suspect that shot multiple victims but said the investigation was in its preliminary stages, and he could not comment on whether there were multiple shooters.
"Until we start picking up the physical evidence and seeing what kind of casings we have, what kind of bullet impacts we have, we won’t be able to determine if it was multiple people shooting or just one person," Meulenberg said.
He added: "So, all we’re asking is to have a heightened sense of awareness, as you always should, and if you happen to have information about this particular incident and this particular suspect, we are begging people to call us, tell us what’s happening, because we only have a successful solve rate with our homicides because of the work with the community. We wouldn’t be as successful as we were if they didn’t help us."
Anyone with information that could assist in the investigation is encouraged to call the Tulsa Police Department at 918-596-9222 or Crime Stoppers at 918-596-COPS.
