Tulsa shooting suspects confess, cops say

The Associated Press

TULSA, Okla. -- Two suspects arrested in a shooting spree that terrorized the city's black community have both confessed, police documents say.

The documents given to The Associated Press yesterday say Jake England, 19, confessed to shooting three people and Alvin Watts, 32, confessed to shooting two.

The shootings early Friday morning left three people dead and two seriously wounded. It's not clear from the affidavit which man shot which victim, but it says police believe Watts shot two of the three who died.

All the victims were black, and police have described the suspects as white.

Police have said one motive for the shootings may have been England's desire to avenge his father's fatal shooting by a black man two years ago.

England and Watts appeared in court Monday and had bond set at more than $9 million each. They appeared via closed-circuit television from jail.

Both are being held on suspicion of three counts of first-degree murder, two counts of shooting with the intent to kill and one count of possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony. They will be formally charged at a later date.

Neither man had an attorney present. The judge set bond at $9.16 million each and set their next appearance for April 16.

Police and the FBI cautioned that it was too early to say whether the attacks were racially motivated. The possible link to the death of England's father was based on Facebook postings attributed to England, police spokesman Jason Willingham said.

A Thursday Facebook update blamed England's father's death on a black man and used a racial slur. It said Thursday was the second anniversary of his father's shooting death.

"It's hard not to go off," given the anniversary and the death of his fiancee earlier this year, the posting said.

Willingham said, "It's apparent from the posting on the Facebook page that he had an ax 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 a link between the two of them." The Facebook page had been taken down by Sunday afternoon.

Watts' brother, Gene, told the Tulsa World that Watts moved in with England soon after his father died to help him deal with his anger, which seemed to be racially focused, pay bills and get his life back together.

"I've never known my brother to be [a] . . . racist or anything like that," Gene Watts said. "I know he was going through a little bit of depression problems, but other than that, he's got in little scuffles before, but he's never went off and done this.

The Tulsa World said England's father, Carl, was shot in the chest in a scuffle with a man who had tried to break into his daughter's apartment. England later died.

Pernell Jefferson faces a May trial in that case on charges of attempted burglary and possession of a firearm, according to court records. He is already serving a 6-year sentence on a weapons charge in another case.