Tulsa Neighborhood Honors Shooting Victim With Teal Ribbons

The neighbors in Florence Park are using teal ribbons to honor Brown and to call for an end to gang violence.

Tuesday, July 17th 2012, 5:40 pm

By: News On 6

Tulsa Neighborhood Honors Shooting Victim With Teal Ribbons

Police are still looking for whoever killed two people in Tulsa on Saturday at the Best Buy store on Skelley Drive.

The store re-opened Tuesday, for the first time since the shooting.

The company has repaired the front door close to where Wesley Brown was shot while shopping with his daughter.

Now, the community where Brown lived is using his death as a rallying cry.

The Florence Park neighborhood is a very close-knit community. Residents there say everyone looks out for everyone else.

So, it's no surprise how they've come together following Saturday's tragedy.

Teal ribbons line the Florence Park neighborhood.

They chose teal, because that was Wesley Brown's favorite color and Brown was a beloved member of the community.

"He was the perfect neighbor, and we've had a couple of different people say he's the neighbor that everybody wants to live next door to them," said Lance Woolsey.

Woolsey is the Florence Park Neighborhood Association president.

He said news of Brown's tragic death on Saturday rippled quickly throughout the neighborhood.

"If it had been a car accident or something like that, it would have been—you might have been able to rationalize it a little easier," Woolsey said. "This just comes out as a pure shock."

Brown was shopping for a gift for his wife inside the Best Buy store on Skelley Drive on Saturday when he was shot and killed, the victim of a stray bullet.

Scott Norman was also killed in the store's parking lot. Police say he was the intended victim and a suspect in a double murder in 2008.

The neighbors in Florence Park are using the ribbons to honor Brown and to call for an end to gang violence.

"If we can keep any other innocent victims from being caught like this, that's what we hope to gain out of it," Woolsey said.

The campaign appears to be working. Woolsey said as soon as they started hanging the ribbons he'd received calls from at least six other neighborhood associations. They all want ribbons of their own to show support to Mr. Brown and innocent victims everywhere.

"Been a little bit overwhelming actually," Woolsey said.

Woolsey is proud of how his neighbors have come together and he hopes these ribbons send a message throughout the city.

"We want them to remember Wesley, first off, and then second we want it to be a call to action, as far as we need to stop this violence," he said.

If you would like to show support to this neighborhood and Wesley Brown, you can contact Lance Woolsey by email.