Sunday, April 8th 2012, 8:34 am
Tulsa police arrested two men they say are responsible for killing three people in North Tulsa on Good Friday.
Jake England and Alvin Watts were booked into Tulsa County Jail on complaints of first degree murder and shooting with intent to kill.
"Within 24 hours of its formation, the task force 'Operation Random Shooter' has completed its mission," said Captain Jonathan Brooks, TPD.
"At 01:47 hours, officers apprehended suspects of the North Tulsa shootings that occurred on Good Friday."
"Our sympathy goes out to the families of the victims and we hope that our efforts can bring some resolution and closure to these heinous acts," Brooks said.
They were taken into custody at a home in the 6200 block of North Yorktown. According to arrest reports, a Crime Stoppers tip led police to their arrest.
England, 19, is the son of a murder victim who was shot and killed two years ago, according to his Facebook page.
4/8/2012 Related Story: North Tulsa Shooter Arrested Two Years After Father's Murder
In a news conference Saturday, Tulsa Police Chief Chuck Jordan announced that his department, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Marshals Office and Federal Bureau of Investigation as well as the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office would combine to form "Operation Random Shooter."
"We're coming for you," he said from the podium, addressing the suspects who were still at-large. They were in custody less than 24 hours later.
The random attacks left three people dead and two injured, all within a 5-mile radius. The victims range in age from 31 to 54.
4/6/2012 Related Story: Tulsa Police Identify Victims In 'Unprecedented' Shooting Spree
Dead are Dannaer Fields, William Allen and Bobby Clark. Two other people were wounded in the shooting spree.
According to his Facebook page, Jake England's father Carl was shot and killed two years ago in what police called a domestic dispute.
After the shooting, a survivor described the suspect as a white man, driving an "older" white pickup truck, said Tulsa Police Chief Chuck Jordan.
4/7/2012 Related Story: Task Force Searches For North Tulsa 'Random Shooter'
The Crime Stoppers tipster told police that Jake England was in possession of the white truck and that he was planning to burn the vehicle. Osage County deputies found the vehicle burned at 6000 North Osage Drive.
The tag on the vehicle checked to Carl or Jacob England.
Jordan said Saturday that the shootings were done with a small-caliber weapon. He said the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigations would conduct further ballistics tests next week.
The Reverend Warren Blakney, a pastor at a city church and president of the NAACP's Tulsa branch, said the shootings could well prove to be hate crimes given that they happened in a predominantly black neighborhood.
"For a white male to come that deep into that area and to start indiscriminately shooting, that lends itself for many to believe that it probably was a hate crime," Blakney told CNN.
Postings on Jake England's Facebook page support the theory that the shootings were hate crimes.
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