1 Dead, 1 Wounded After Gang-Related Shooting In North Tulsa

A 16-year-old girl is dead after a van of young men ambushed the car she was in with gunfire.

Tulsa Police Sergeant Dave Walker said gang violence is on the rise in Tulsa, and police are connecting this shooting to other recent gang shootings.

Police are actively searching for the shooters that, they said, ambushed a car two people were sitting in around 3:45 Friday afternoon near 46th Street and MLK Boulevard.

Walker said police know the man the 16 year old was with, and so do a lot of gang members.

"The male driver I do know by name. He has a gang history, so he's come across my desk several times," he said.

Walker said the same bullet-riddled PT Cruiser was shot at during a drive-by shooting last month at the QuikTrip at 46th Street North and Lewis.

The young man inside the car at the shooting was the same man behind the wheel Friday; he’s now in the hospital with gunshot wounds.

Walker is on the hunt for the shooters and he believes some are even younger than the victims.

He said about five young men, ages around 14 to 20, pulled up to the Hood Food Store in a brown 1990s Astro van, opened the door and started shooting at the PT Cruiser parked next to them.

"Fired from the van, into the PT Cruiser, hit both the driver and the passenger," said Walker.

Officers counted 15 shell casings in the intersection of 46th Street North and MLK. The investigation cut off traffic for hours and caused a lot of people to get out of their cars and ask “who” and “why?”

Authorities recovered the 1995 Chevrolet Astro van within five miles of the shooting. It has been taken to the Tulsa Police Forensic lab for processing.

Anyone with information about the murder is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 918-596-COPS.