3 dead, 2 wounded in Tulsa shooting spree

A woman and two men were shot overnight in Tulsa, Okla., Friday, April 6, 2012 - in one of several shootings within a one-mile radius. Three people are dead and two in critical conditions, in what police and the FBI suspect are racially-motivated shootings. / KOTV

(CBS/AP) TULSA, Okla. - A spree of early-morning shootings within a one-mile span of north Tulsa in which three people were killed and two critically wounded has lead police to suspect the same attacker or attackers are behind them.

All five of the victims were shot within an hour, and within a 1-mile radius of each other, police sources tell CBS News, and all five victims were out walking when they were shot.

Police are speculating that the shootings were racially motivated because all of the victims are black; it is not believed the victims knew one another.

Police won't know for sure if the shootings are linked until they see the results of ballistic tests.

CBS News has learned that two of the victims described the suspect as a white male, and that four people said they saw a white truck. No one has been arrested.

The FBI is now involved in the investigation.

Black community leaders met Friday evening in an effort to calm unrest and promote safety. NAACP Tulsa president, the Rev. Warren Blakney Sr., told the Tulsa World someone appeared to be "targeting black people to shoot."

"I'm on edge for my people," Blakney said.

Four shooting victims were found in yards, and the fifth in a street. Police identified those killed as Dannaer Fields, 49; Bobby Clark, 54; and William Allen, 31. Fields was found wounded about 1 a.m. Friday. Clarke was found in a street about an hour later. Allen was discovered in the yard of a funeral home about 8:30 a.m.

Minutes after Fields was found, police found two men with gunshot wounds in another yard two blocks away. They were taken to hospitals in critical condition but are expected to survive, police said. Their names have not been released.

Police Capt. Steve Odom said in his 30 years with the police department, he'd never seen so many shootings happen in such a short time.

Walker said detectives interviewed people Friday afternoon in the neighborhoods where the shootings happened and believe a white man driving a white pickup truck may have been involved.

Tulsa City Councilor Jack Henderson urged people to be cautious but not let "some crazy, deranged person mess up their weekend."

"There's no need to become a vigilante," Henderson said, adding that he has been assured police are working on the case as a "24/7 round-the-clock deal."

[rewisecarver]

People who drive around a neighborhood and shot people are nutjobs. End of discussion. I doesn't matter if it is chold or women or if they use bombs or guns-they are nut jobs!! Race is just one of the ways a nutjob plys his or her sick game. They need to be caught and locked up forever or executed.

[FormerUSMCSergeant]

SlackJawedYocal - probably a very honest appraisal......

[spj3k54]

Innocent Americans are being killed. It doesn't matter their race. Hope this killer(s) is caught soon.

The political and ignorant comments made here by some. Make me ill. Murder is murder. And all some can do is rant about how unfair one side or the other is treated in respect to their color. A damned shame.

[bethevoice]

Yes, the FBI would be called in a case as this since it's a Mass Killing. I agree with above comment asking isn't killing a hate crime. All murder is senseless & cold-blooded & callous. Prayers, for all those who were shot who will survive & those families of those killed. May justice prevail as soon as possible with the capture of this person.

[aintfakin]

look at all the hate in here!!!!!!
and Zimmerman is innocent
right?
hahahaha
all these racists in here are using what they think is reverse racism to come out of the closet. Maybe there is a little reverse racism.....but it sure brought out all the right wing white racist haters in here who think 2 wrongs make a right.

[GTR5]

Had all of the victims been white, do you really think the FBI would have been called in to investigate? We need some serious change in Washington.

[Smegacool]

Now this one might be a hate crime...

[Bryon_Evans]

"Police are speculating that the shootings were racially motivated because all of the victims are black"

To all of the crazy right-wing people blaming this on 'racial speculation' and making statements about white men always being blamed because it's trendy to blame white guys when black guys die... HELLO! The article clearly states that the POLICE are speculating that it might be racially motivated. Can you not read? Beyond that it's Oklahoma. Black people are not a very high percentage of the population there. But go on. Continue saying hateful things about Sharpton and Jackson and paint yourselves as exactly what you are. Paranoid Bigots.

[RayS1954]

Tulsa Police is irresponsible for releasing such a provocative comment to the news media. Don't they realize they have just made their job harder.

[jeannutson]

Such rampant killings are likely to increase as the global economic downturn and uncertainty continues to have severe impacts on the lives of many causing frustrations that lead to such acts.