Tulsa Police continue to search for a suspect in a weekend homicide

A gunman who shot and killed a man over a place in line in Tulsa over the weekend is still on the run. Now, the victim's widow tells News on 6 reporter Steve Berg she can't understand why something

Tuesday, March 21st 2006, 6:10 am

By: News On 6

A gunman who shot and killed a man over a place in line in Tulsa over the weekend is still on the run. Now, the victim's widow tells News on 6 reporter Steve Berg she can't understand why something so minor went so wrong.

She says that "someone" might only speak Spanish. So she hopes the words reach the right people. â€œWhen we got to the hospital, I was there probably only 30 minutes and then they told me he'd been shot in the head and there was nothing they could do for him." Ines Gonzalez says when she got the call in the middle of the night, she thought her husband Gabriel might have been wounded.

24 hours later, the shock is still setting in. â€œI mean, as long as I keep busy, I mean it's hard to realize that it really did happen." But why did it happen?

Gabriel's nephew Luis says they went to the La Fondita taco stand after playing pool Saturday night. He says another man was in line ahead of them, but stepped aside and so Gabriel placed his order. "That guy took his order and so the guy became upset and said so why are you taking his order first?"

Luis says the taco stand owner told the man he needed to speak up. And he says Gabriel said if you don't speak, God will not hear you. He says Gabriel meant it jokingly, but the man went to his truck and got a gun. Luis says the man grabbed him first, but he got away. Luis Gonzalez: "And I took a look back and I saw he had my uncle with a gun to his head." They say Gabriel was not a confrontational person. â€œThe day before he died he told me never to do drugs, never to fight."

Ines Gonzalez: "And my daughter won't even know him, she's so young. If anybody knows anything I just hope that they call in and tell the police everything that they know. Why someone would just, I mean that guy; he went and shot somebody over a place in line."

The suspect is described as a Hispanic male in his early 30's in a gray shirt and blue jeans. Tulsa Police say he fled the scene in a red Nissan extended-cab pickup truck. They say there was a woman and two young children in the truck.

Anyone with information is asked to call Crimestoppers at 596-COPS. Spanish-speaking tipsters can call 596-7000.