Tulsa Shootings May Have Been Revenge

While an earlier police report indicated that the victims of the recent Tulsa shootings were chosen at random, police are now saying that one of the suspects arrested might have been terrorizing the black community after his father was shot by a black man two years earlier.

FBI and police say that it is to soon to determine whether the Tulsa shootings were motivated racially motivated. Though, it is a potential possibility that 19-year-old Jake England, one of the Tulsa shooters arrested, was fueled by the belief that his father was killed by a black man as indicated by an online posting on the teenager’s Facebook page.

England claimed Thursday was the second anniversary of his father’s death. The posting quoted the young man as having said, “It’s hard not to go off.” A statement which appears to be a reference to his ability, or rather inability, to control his violent inclinations.

Police spokesman Jason Willingham announced that investigators were currently contemplating a number of potential motives behind the killing which were based upon postings on England’s Facebook account. Willingham was quoted by The Associated Press having said:

“It’s apparent from the posting on the Facebook page that he had an axe to grind and that was possibly part of the motive. If you read the Facebook post and see what he’s accused of doing, you can see there’s link between the two of them.”

Susan Sevenstar, an England family friend, told The Associated Press that he was “a good kid” who “was not in his right mind” after the loss of both his father as well as his fiance with whom he had a child recently. His fiancee committed suicide in January. Sevenstar goes onto say that England is Cherokee Indian and that:

“He didn’t care what your color was. It wasn’t a racist thing.”

Carl England, the father of accused Tulsa shooter Jake, was shot in the chest after getting into a physical altercation with another man who had attempted to break into his daughter’s apartment. Carl later died from injuries sustained in the squabble and the man charged with the crime is currently serving six years on a weapons charge.

Police arrested Jake England and Alvin Watts on an anonymous tip at 2 a.m. on Sunday just north of Tulsa in Turley, Oklahoma.