A Tulsa police officer working near 51st Street and Yale Avenue heard gunshots ring out and spotted a masked man carrying a gun running from the scene, prompting a search for the suspect. One person was taken to the hospital after the shooting, and officers have not said how badly that person was hurt.
According to News On 6, the responding officer's sighting of the fleeing gunman led to a tense confrontation moments later. A security guard working nearby approached the suspected shooter, who fired shots at the guard. The guard was not hit, the station reported.
Police have not released the condition of the person who was taken to the hospital after the shooting, per the same report. As of the station's reporting, the suspect remained at large and the investigation was still ongoing, with no description beyond the mask and the firearm officers said he was carrying.
A Familiar Intersection For Tulsa Police
The stretch of road near 51st and Yale has drawn police attention before, though those earlier cases are separate from Tuesday's shooting and involve different victims and circumstances. In one previous incident, KJRH reported that a man was shot four times inside the Studio Star Extended Stay between Skelly Drive and 51st Street, suffering injuries to his hand, arm and both legs before being listed in stable condition at the hospital.
A different case in the area turned fatal. KJRH's report on that incident said homicide detectives were investigating a shooting near 51st and Yale after the victim was transported to a local hospital, where he later died. Neither of those cases is connected to the shooting reported Tuesday, and police have not indicated any link between them.
Security Guards Have Been Targeted Before
Tuesday's confrontation between the suspected shooter and a security guard echoes a 2021 case in the same general area. KTUL reported that a man fired shots at a security guard at the Avery Park Apartments near 51st and Yale, and that officers later arrested a suspect identified as Keciaan West after finding a handgun inside his vehicle. It is not clear whether that history has any bearing on the current investigation.
For now, investigators have not released a suspect description beyond the mask and firearm the officer reported seeing, and no arrest has been announced. Anyone with information on the shooting near 51st and Yale is encouraged to contact Tulsa police as the search for the gunman continues.
