White Male suspected of shooting five people, killing three-- Hate Crime Or Random Violence

From Nick Valencia, CNN

updated 4:04 PM EDT, Sat April 7, 2012

3 killed, 2 injured in Oklahoma shootings

(CNN) -- As police canvassed city
streets, the mayor of Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Saturday urged residents to be
on the lookout for clues -- and for one another -- after a gunman
killed three people and left two others critically wounded.

"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," Mayor
Dewey Bartlett told CNN. "The only thing in common (in the shootings) is
the randomness."

According
to police, the five victims were shot early Friday morning in four
different locations within a "2- to 3-mile radius" of each other.

No
suspect has been identified by name. While not ruling out the
possibility others may be involved, investigators believe a white male
traveling in a white pickup truck is the lone shooter, according to
Tulsa police Capt. Jonathan Brooks.

Brooks added that police are looking into whether the shootings may be hate crimes. All of the victims are black.

Dannaer Fields, 49, died at a hospital following the first shooting, which occurred at 1:03 a.m., according to Brooks.

Three minutes later, two people were shot nearby. Both are in critical condition, but are expected to survive.

"The
suspect just pulled up and asked a question about where to go," Brooks
said, noting the witnesses said the gunman didn't use any racial slurs
that might indicate a hate crime.

Then,
just before 2 a.m., a fourth shooting incident -- like the first, a
fatal -- occurred. The third person killed was found around 8 a.m. next
to a funeral home in a more commercial district, though Brooks said
police suspect he was shot much earlier.

"It
appears all the victims were out walking or in the yard," said the
police captain, noting the affected area was demographically diverse.
"This (happened in) a residential neighborhood, predominantly
single-family dwellings, except for the last victim."

Police
say they know that an older model white truck with some rust on it was
seen at three of the crime scenes. They are currently investigating
whether the same weapon, believed to be a small-caliber gun, was used in
all of the attacks.

A
25-person task force is on the case, with some of them spending the
weekend "going, literally, door to door, and asking people if they have
seen anything (and) what their opinions and observations are," according
to Bartlett.

Tulsa
police, which had at least 40 cruisers patrolling the impacted areas,
were also getting help from the FBI and U.S. Marshals Service.

The mayor commended city residents for having "really come together," intent on helping authorities capture the killer.

"It
should be concerning to all Tulsans, because we are all in this
together," Bartlett said. "Some of our fellow Tulsans have been pretty
violently shot, and some of them are not here today to enjoy the weekend
with their families."