Police: 2 suspects arrested in Oklahoma shootings

TULSA, Oklahoma - The Associated Press

Members of the the Osage County Sheriff Department prepare to assist Tulsa police in Tulsa, Oklahoma April 7, 2012 in their manhunt for a man in a white pickup truck who shot five people in the early morning April 6, 2012. REUTERS photo

Police arrested two white male suspects early Sunday in shootings that left three people dead and two more critically wounded, all black, in the Tulsa area.

The Friday morning shootings had left the city's black community on edge through the weekend.

Authorities had said they thought the shootings in a predominantly black neighborhood by an attacker or attackers were linked because they happened around the same time and all five victims were out walking when they were shot.

Tulsa police spokesman Jason Willingham said the two men were arrested at a house just north of Tulsa at 1:47 a.m. and were expected to face three charges of first-degree murder and two counts of shooting with intent to kill.

He said police acted on a crimestoppers' tip and went to one location and tracked the suspects after they traveled about a half-mile (0.8 kilometer) on foot to another location where they were taken into custody. He declined to characterize that as a pursuit.

"There obviously still is a lot of investigation" ahead, Willingham told The Associated Press by telephone. "We don't' have a motive at this time. We are still asking questions and hopefully that will become clear in coming days." Willingham identified the men in custody as 19-year-old Jake England and 32-year-old Alvin Watts, but gave no hometowns nor said what developments led up to their arrests. He said they were taken early Sunday for questioning at a downtown Tulsa police station.

Willingham said authorities still faced many unanswered questions after the arrests.

"We are going to turn over every rock," he said of the investigation.

Police had said previously that they were searching for a white man driving a white pickup, which was spotted in the area of three of the shootings. At least two dozen officers were called to investigate the case, along with the FBI and U.S. Marshals Service.

He said the arrests followed an anonymous tip received on Saturday but he declined to specify what that tip was. Willingham said he did not have any immediate details when asked if the men were armed when they were arrested.

He said police had begun moving to make arrests Saturday evening.

"We been on them since early in the evening (of Saturday). We had been doing surveillance and using a helicopter," he told AP.