Federal authorities have joined an escalating investigation into a series of shootings in Tulsa, Okla., in which three African Americans were killed and two others were wounded in the span of roughly an hour.
The shootings, in which the five victims were shot in four separate incidents within a few miles of one another in Tulsa's north side shortly after 1 a.m. Friday, have unnerved the city's African American community, which last year commemorated the 90th anniversary of the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921.
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Close Associated PressTulsa Chief of Police Chuck Jordan, left, and Mayor Dewey Bartlett
Tulsa Police Capt. Jonathan Brooks cautioned that authorities are still piecing together the limited evidence and are not yet certain that a single person was responsible for all the shootings. Some witnesses, including one of the victims, said they had seen a white man in a pickup truck who might be the shooter.
But authorities have assembled a task force of about 25 investigators to assist in the probe, including city homicide detectives, the U.S. Marshals Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. They have also stepped up patrols in the affected neighborhoods to reassure frightened residents.
"The only direct witness is one of the victims, and he is uncertain whether the shooter was alone or had an accomplice," Captain Brooks said in an interview. "But the one thing we know for certain is that they were in an older white pickup, the driver is believed to be white, and a similar truck was also seen around the other locations at the times of those shootings."
The police identified the three dead as a woman, Dannaer Fields, 49, and two men, Bobby Clark, 54, and William Allen, 31, whose body was not found until 8 am Friday, the police said.
The names of the two wounded victims have not been released. Both are in critical condition but expected to survive, the police said.
The shootings were the worst in recent memory for Tulsa, the 46th-largest city in America with a population of about 392,000. Like many other cities, it has struggled with budget problems in the aftermath of the recession and had to lay off roughly 11% of its police force early in 2010.
"I can't think of a time when we had so many shootings in such a short time frame," Captain Brooks said.
FBI Special Agent Clay Simmonds said federal authorities were assisting the probe in light of the early description of the suspect, but noted that it was not yet clear based on the sketchy evidence that a federal hate crime or civil rights offense had occurred.
The police are still awaiting the results of forensic evidence to determine whether the same weapon was involved in all the shootings.
"We're just in the initial phases of assisting the Tulsa P.D. in trying to figure out what happened," Mr. Simmonds said.
Tulsans of all races came together last year to commemorate one of the ugliest events in Oklahoma history, the Tulsa Race Riot, which resulted in the deaths of dozens of residents of the city's then-prospering black community. From May 31 to June 1, 1921, fires burned more than 1,000 residences in 35 city blocks.
On Saturday, politicians and community leaders were trying to reassure residents of Tulsa's predominantly black north side that authorities had the Friday shootings under control, while at the same time asking anyone with even a scintilla of first-hand information to come forward and help them find whoever was responsible.
"This is an event that is unprecedented in our recent history, and it is certainly one that ... we want to bring to an end very quickly," Tulsa Mayor Dewey Bartlett told CNN. "The only thing in common is the randomness."
Write to Miguel Bustillo at miguel.bustillo@wsj.com
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