Tulsa Library, QuikTrip Shooting Suspect Pleads Guilty

A man who murdered two innocent people because they were white, pleaded guilty Tuesday afternoon. Carlton Gilford shot the victims at a Tulsa QuikTrip and a Tulsa library last April.

Gilford was charged with shooting Lundin Hathcock and James McDaniel and shooting at two QuikTrip employees. Gilford was also charged with a hate crime. The judge asked Gilford in court if he shot Hathcock and McDaniel because they were white and Gilford said yes.

Prosecutors say surveillance video shows Gilford walk into the Rudisill Library last April, walk up behind Lundin Hathcock who was looking at a computer and shooting him in the head. Gilford left the library, drove to a QuikTrip a few blocks away and walked up behind James McDaniel at an ATM and shot him in the head. Video shows Gilford shot McDaniel several more times after McDaniel was on the ground.

Two QuikTrip employees heard the gunshots and started walking up to the store when Gilford fired shots at them too, but they weren’t hit. Police arrested Gilford at the store and said he had the gun with him and a self-inflicted gunshot wound to his head. Police say Gilford didn’t know the victims and didn’t say a word to them before he shot them.

Prosecutors later charged Gilford with malicious intimidation or harassment, which means it was a hate crime.

As part of the plea agreement, the DA’s office recommended Gilford be sentenced to life without parole. That will happen in December and at that time, the victims’ families will be able to read victim impact statements to the judge.

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3. Tulsa Mayor Shares Sympathy For Victims' Families After 2 Killed In Random Shootings
4. Tulsa Police Chief Addresses 'Random' Shootings That Killed 2 People
5. Police Release Details About Unprovoked Murders At Tulsa Gas Station, Library