Tattoo Shop Shooting Victim Making Progress

A victim of a double shooting is making progress as Tulsa police continue to look for his shooters.  Tony Carey has been able to get out of his hospital bed and walk around his room.  He was shot last week in a robbery of a Tulsa tattoo parlor.

News On 6 anchor Terry Hood reports the shop is back open and now its owner is helping pay Carey's medical bills.

Mick Eason of Inner City Tattoo has spent a lot of time on the phone since his tattoo shop was robbed and two employees shot.

Carey is still in the hospital where Eason visited him Tuesday morning.

"He's pretty strong and he's actually coming back a lot quicker than I expected him to," said Eason.

Police say two men came into the shop late Thursday night.  An older man asked about tattoos when a younger man pulled a gun and asked for money.

Employee Cale Turpen was next to the man with the gun and, Eason says, he tried to wrestle it away.

"The younger guy jumped back and got away from Cale and then they shot him in the leg," said Eason.

That's when Carey stepped back, Eason says, surrendering the fight.

"Tony was reaching for his wallet. They took his cell phone out of his jacket pocket and then he was reaching for his wallet and, I guess, they thought he was going for a gun or something and then they just shot him in the chest," said Eason.

Police say several other tattoo shops report seeing the men near their stores earlier in the week.

Investigators think the men were looking for a good target.

"Most of these parlors or tattoo businesses are, kind of, in secluded places and they're not really secure as far as preventing robberies," said TPD Sgt. Dave Walker.

Now Eason is selling t-shirts and sending all of profits from his business to pay for Carey's medical bills.

The father of two does not have health insurance.

"Nobody deserves to get shot and get done like that. We're just hard working guys just like everybody else," said Eason.

The suspects were last seen driving a champagne colored Ford Probe

The first suspect is described as a thin built, black man in his early 50's, with a beard that is speckled with white or gray hair.

The other suspect is also black, younger and shorter in stature; he was also wearing a green bandana.

If you recognize the vehicle and the suspects, call police.