Tulsa shooting: 3 dead; police seek help in search for shooter

Police in Tulsa, Okla., asked the public for help in searching for a man who shot three people to death and wounded two others in a predominantly African American neighborhood.

The shootings occurred a few miles from one another Friday. Police identified those killed as Dannaer Fields, 49, Bobby Clark, 54, and William Allen, 31.

The proximity of the victims and similarities of the bullets lead authorities to believe the shootings may be connected, Tulsa Police Chief Chuck Jordan said in a televised news conference Saturday.

Jordan urged people to “take care of each other” and report any suspicious activity to police as they continue their search for the gunman.

Fields was found mortally wounded in a neighborhood yard about 1 a.m. Friday, Clark’s body was found in a street about an hour later, and Allen’s body was discovered in the yard of a funeral home about 8:30 a.m., the Associated Press reported.

The two surviving victims were shot elsewhere. One of those is the only witness to the shootings and described the gunman to police as a white male, Jordan said, though “that alone probably accounts for 50,000 people in the city of Tulsa.”

Police are searching for a man in an older-model white pickup truck, Jordan said. He said that although the shootings could be considered hate crimes because all the victims were African American, no racial slurs were reportedly used and police aren’t following that theory until more information comes to light.

City Councilor Jack Henderson, who represents the district in which the shootings occurred, said residents with information about the shootings needed to contact the task force in charge of investigating the incidents. The task force includes the FBI and U.S. Marshals Service.

“I know that there are some people in District 1 that are thinking that they don’t need to be talking to the Police Department,” Henderson said. “We need you to put aside your feelings about your inability to talk to the Police Department.”

ALSO:

Hard-boiled eggs are easy to make - if you know the secret

Five men charged with torturing and killing two Michigan women

Brake for a stopped school bus? Too many don’t. That could change