This photo combo of images provided by the Tulsa Police Department via the Tulsa World shows Jacob England, left, and Alvin Watts. According to police, England, 19, and Watts, 32, will be charged with three counts of murder and two counts of shooting with intent to kill, after being arrested early Sunday, April 8, 2012, for their involvement in the recent shootings in Tulsa, Okla., that left three people dead and two others critically wounded. (AP Photo/Tulsa Police Department via Tulsa World)TULSA, Okla. – Two men were arrested Sunday in a shooting rampage that left three people dead and terrorized Tulsa’s black community, and police said one of the suspects may have been trying to avenge his father’s shooting two years ago by a black man.
Police identified both suspects as white, while all five victims in the rampage early Friday were black.
Police and the FBI said it is too soon to say whether the attacks in Tulsa’s predominantly black north side were racially motivated. Police spokesman Jason Willingham said that investigators are considering many possible motives but that based on messages posted on Facebook, revenge appeared to be a factor.
The FBI special agent in charge of Oklahoma says it’s too early, however, to talk about the shooting being hate crimes.
In a Thursday update on Facebook that appeared to have been written by 19-year-old Jake England, he angrily blamed his father’s death on a black man and used a racial slur. He said Thursday was the second anniversary of his father’s death.