TU Student, Gunman Dead After Tulsa Chase And Carjackings

NewsOn6.com

TULSA, Oklahoma -- Tulsa Police are investigating an incident at 21st and Yale in which witnesses say a gunman shot and killed a man who wouldn't give up his vehicle.

The incident began at about 12:30 p.m. when a man kidnapped a person in a GMC Safari minivan in the 2200 block of South Oswego Place.

With police in pursuit, the thief got out of the van and carjacked a man in a white Ford pickup.  Police chased him eastbound on 21st Street where he drove into the parking lot of the Walmart Neighborhood Market. 

Witnesses tell News On 6 the man ran into the store and opened fire.  He then ran out of the store and tried to carjack a man in a small dark-colored car.  Police say when that driver refused to give up the vehicle, the gunman shot and killed the man and the car rolled into the intersection.

The University of Tulsa identified the man as Sufeng He, a 24-year-old eletrical engineering master's student from China. 

"Sufeng was a bright and promising student who was taken away from us much too soon as the result of this random and senseless act of violence," said TU President Steadman Upham. "The thoughts and prayers of the entire TU family go out to his family and friends during this terrible time."

A spokesman for the University of Tulsa said a passenger in He's car was not injured.

After the gunman shot and killed He, witnesses say he then carjacked Robert Sanderson and his family who were in a mid-90s extended cab Chevy pickup near the Panda Express.

Sanderson told News On 6 he was stopped at a red light at 21st and Yale when he saw the gunman running across the intersection.  Sanderson ran the red light to try to get away, but says the gunman jumped into the back of his truck.

5/31/2011 Related Story: Tulsa Carjacking Victim To Gunman: 'Let Me Get My Baby'

Sanderson says the gunman was yelling and pounding on the back glass, so Sanderson stopped in the entrance to the Walmart and got out of the truck.

He says he begged the gunman to allow him to get his baby, his girlfriend and his girlfriend's younger brother out of the truck and the gunman agreed.

The gunman drove off, firing as he went, almost immediately hitting a utility pole and stopping the truck.  Witnesses say police had returned fire at the gunman, but it's not clear yet if they hit him.

The gunman never got out of the truck.  Police shut down the intersection and called in the Special Operations Team as they surrounded the vehicle.

Police used their armored car and shields to approach the truck and confirmed the gunman was dead. 

Along the way the gunman dropped a gun and a holster near the drive-thru lane at the Panda Express.

Homicide detectives are looking for the missing minivan.  It's a white, 1999 GMC Safari, bearing Oklahoma tag 612-FLT.  Police say the vehicle possibly contains a large amount of firearms. They say it may be driven by a white man in his 40s.

News On 6 crews at the scene report hearing many gun shots, presumably fired by the gunman, throughout the ordeal.

The police presence at the scene was so large and the investigation so extensive the Red Cross dispatched an emergency response vehicle and a volunteer team to provide beverages and energy-sustaining snacks to emergency responders.