Homicide Count Climbs To 18

Friday, April 6th 2007, 1:02 pm

By: News On 6

A Tulsa man becomes the cityâ€™s 18th homicide victim after being shot during a Friday afternoon robbery. It happened at an east Tulsa pawnshop. Now, Tulsa Police need your help finding the three suspects. News On 6 anchor Omar Villafranca reports detectives are scouring the store for clues while employees at neighboring businesses struggle to make sense of the crime.

Susan Settle works next door and used to chat at work with the young man who was shot.

"We were friends,â€ said Settle. â€œI would see him all the time outside the pawnshop. We'd walk to the convenience store all the time to get pops and stuff. We'd run into each other and kind of a hi, how are you doing here and there, but he seemed like a real sweet guy."

Settle didn't see what happened, but a surveillance camera did. In the video, you can see a good picture of one of the suspects inside the store. The camera also caught video of the rest of the suspects leaving the store and getting into a green car with gold rims. Police don't want to waste any time catching these suspects.

"It's important at this time, if anybody recognizes or notices anybody associated with the vehicle or the suspects themselves to call 911 if they know about their whereabouts," said Tulsa Police Sergeant. Scott Walton.

The EZ Pawn did have a surveillance camera, and detectives are looking at the video to get a better look at the suspects. Officers say many pawnshops have surveillance cameras because it's a dangerous business.

"These businesses, as well as banks and other institutions that deal in cash and merchandise, have to be wary that they are a target,â€ said Tulsa Police Officer Gary Upton. â€œThey're going to be a target for suspects looking for a quick easy buck, hopefully in and out, but it didn't turn out to be so in this case."

Tulsa Police did interview other witnesses, but say their best witness is the surveillance video.