Girl, 14, shot dead in botched Okla. robbery; two arrested

TULSA, Okla. - Police have made two arrests following the shooting death of a 14-year-old girl in Oklahoma, reports CBS affiliate KOTV.

Nineteen-year-old David Ruble II and 21-year-old Demonte Rushing were taken into custody separately on Saturday night for their alleged roles in the death of April Montano, according to the station.

Montano died from wounds sustained in a shooting last Thursday night, when the truck she and her family were riding in was shot at on the Gilcrease Expressway in Tulsa County. KOTV reports the family was on their way back from spending the day riding all-terrain vehicles at nearby Keystone Lake, celebrating April's middle school graduation.

According to KOTV, police believe the shooting was part of an attempted robbery, and that Ruble wanted to steal the family's truck and trailer full of four-wheelers.

"The evidence is there," said Tulsa Police Department Sgt. Dave Walker. "It certainly is about ATVs.... It's gonna be stupid little kids with big guns that don't know how to use them and should have left them at home."

Montano's father said he heard three gunshots and pulled over the vehicle. It was then that he realized April had been hit, sometime around 9:30 p.m. Thursday, according to the station. The 14-year-old was rushed to the hospital, where she died at about 3 a.m. on Friday.

Officers stopped a black Dodge Charger soon after the shooting, KOTV reports, after the victim's father said he saw a black car leaving the scene. Police believe Ruble was the driver, but detectives said there was not enough evidence to make an arrest at the time. It is unclear if he was alone in the vehicle.

"Once confronted with the seriousness and senselessness of this murder, people were willing to give testimony that allowed the Tulsa Police Department to arrest Ruble for murder," said Walker. Rushing was sought because police believed he had information about the shooting, according to the station. He turned himself in to authorities on Saturday.

Ruble, who is facing a murder charge, is known among detectives as being part of the Tulsa "underworld," said Walker. The sergeant also said Ruble has had interaction with investigators in relation to two other murders in the area.

The station reports officers recovered a .40-caliber handgun along the route the suspect took in his car on the night April was killed. Walker said the gun matched the shell casings found at the scene.

Anyone with knowledge of the murder is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 918-596-2677 or email homicide@cityoftulsa.org.