Facebook slurs reviewed in Tulsa shootings

Tulsa, Okla., police say they are reviewing racial slurs one of two white men suspected of killing three blacks and wounding of two others posted to Facebook. Jacob England, 19, and Alvin Watts, 32, each face three counts of first-degree murder and two counts of shooting with intent to kill for the five shootings Friday, police said. The pair, who were being held without bail in the Tulsa jail, were to appear in court Monday. It was not known if they had lawyers, Tulsa police spokesman Jason Willingham said. Dannaer Fields, 49, Bobby Clark, 54, and William Allen, 31, were killed as they walked within a few miles of each other on Tulsa's predominantly black north side, police said. Police did not disclose the names of the two wounded victims, who were also black, but said they were no longer hospitalized. Police recovered a small-caliber weapon when they arrested the men but at a briefing would not say if it could be tied to the crimes. They also said they found the charred remains of a pickup truck north of the city that they believe the suspects set on fire. Witnesses, including a victim, said they saw a white man in a pickup truck who might be the shooter. Investigators said Sunday they were reviewing England's Facebook page, which indicated he may have targeted blacks after his father was shot and killed by a black man. The shootings coincided with the second anniversary of his father's death. "There is a link between the two," Willingham told the Los Angeles Times. "Was that his only motive? We don't know. We're assuming that was a driving force." But FBI agent James Finch said at a news conference Sunday it was "way too early to call this a hate crime," the Tulsa World reported. "We have yet to analyze all the information to understand the motivations in this case," he said. And Willingham told the World he could not confirm, despite reports, that revenge was a motive. England's father, Carl England, 47, was shot April 5, 2010, during a fight about a quarter-mile from where Allen's body was found. The man arrested in Carl England's shooting was Pernell Demond Jefferson, a black man now serving a prison sentence for the crime. In Facebook postings last week, England used racial slurs to describe his father's killer, the World and other media reported. He also wrote emotionally about the death of his fiancee in January, drawing concerned responses from some Facebook friends, including Watts. Watts posted multiple times on England's Facebook page since then, the World reported. England's Facebook page appeared to have been taken down Sunday.