Jake England and Alvin Watts, both white men accused of a wave of shootings, killing three and wounding two, in predominantly black neighborhoods of Tulsa, Oklahoma, will make their first court appearance on Monday, as authorities work to determine whether the violence was racially motivated. England, 19, and Watts, 33, have been charged with three counts of murder and two counts of shooting with the intent to kill in connection with last week’s shooting spree. The men were arrested on Sunday after a run of tips led investigators to England’s burned truck, a vehicle that matched a description reported at the crime scenes, according to their arrest reports.
Jim Finch, head of the FBI’s Oklahoma office, said, “We have yet to analyze all the information to understand the motivations of these subjects in this case.” As part of the ongoing investigation, authorities were examining England’s Facebook page, which contained the use of a racial slur when he discussed the anniversary of his father’s murder in 2010. A day prior to the shootings, on his Facebook page, England wrote that his father was killed “at the hands of a f***ing nigger.” Watts and England are reportedly roommates, but their relationship is unclear. Authorities are trying to decipher if the murders of Dannaer Fields, William Allen, and Bobby Clark, and the shootings of the two other victims were driven by race. They are asking, “What was the intent? Why the randomness of this activity?”
