Two Men Arrested in Tulsa Shootings Targeting Black Community
Early this morning, police arrested 19-year-old Jake England and 32-year-old Alvin Watts in connection to a shooting spree that killed three men and critically injured two others.
The motivation behind the crimes is still unclear, but given that the shootings took place in a predominantly black neighborhood in Tulsa and that all the victims were black, many have speculated that this was a hate crime.
The shootings, in which the five victims were shot in four separate incidents within a few miles of one another on Tulsa's north side shortly after 1 a.m. Friday, unnerved the city's African-American community, which last year commemorated the 90th anniversary of the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921.
Police didn't indicate Sunday morning whether they believed the rash of shootings had been a hate crime.
But there is evidence to support that. The Wall Street Journal article cites England's Facebook page, on which he used racial slurs to write about his father being shot by a black man.
England and Watts will face three counts of first-degree murder and two counts of shooting with intent to kill.
[Image via AP]