Police Searching For Tips In Woodland Hills Mall Shooting

Police said shootings are rarely random, but they do happen and said if this is random it's going to be tough to solve.

Monday, June 22nd 2015, 8:16 pm

By: News On 6


A man is home from the hospital after being shot in the neck while in the Woodland Hills Mall parking lot Saturday afternoon.

Police said shootings are rarely random, but they do happen and said if this is random it's going to be tough to solve.

The victim's family said he went to church that morning then wanted to go to the mall to do some Father's Day shopping with his young son and nephew.

They said they can't think of anyone who would want to harm him, and police said without a motive, they're stumped.

One witness heard a loud boom, then saw a man running away from the scene carrying something, but, police don't know if that was the shooter or someone running because they heard a gunshot.

6/20/2015 Related Story: Man Found Shot In Woodland Hills Mall Parking Lot

The victim told police he didn't see a thing.

"Had the kids buckled in, turned on the car and heard a loud explosion, as he explains it. Doesn't see anything, realizes he was hurt after he comes to his senses and realized he had an injury to his neck and the window was shattered," said Tulsa Police Sergeant, Dave Walker.

Police said random shootings are rare in Tulsa, but they do happen.

They said they have questions about why someone would pick that location.

"Shooting someone at a mall parking lot doesn't make a lot of sense to me, even in a random situation. Usually, they are getting something out of it," Walker said.

They said without a motive - like a robbery or revenge - and no eyewitness, it's pretty tough to know where to begin searching for a suspect.

One thing that could help is, generally, when people do a crime like this, they end up telling somebody.

"A lot don't have the personality to keep everybody happy, so somebody will be mad at them and maybe we'll get the call," said Walker.

He said as with any crime, people need to increase their awareness of their surroundings, but he doesn't feel it should force them to avoid going places they enjoy.

"I wouldn't stop going to the mall because of this," Walker said.

Police said, especially in this case with no leads, they need someone to call Crime Stoppers at 918-596-COPS.

What they need is something specific they can check out and follow up on.

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