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TULSA, Okla. — Black Tulsans are reeling after a mass shooting disrupted Saturday night’s Juneteenth festival in Historic Greenwood, leaving a 22-year-old man dead and seven others wounded.
For hours, thousands of festival attendees grooved to the music and enjoyed each other’s company as the community celebrated Tulsa’s annual Juneteenth festival. But just before 11 p.m., the celebratory mood on Black Wall Street turned to chaos as gunfire sent hundreds fleeing for their lives. The chaos included some falling to the ground and being trampled. Victims hit by bullets ranged in age from 17 to 80.
Residents react to Tulsa Juneteenth mass shooting in Historic Greenwood
Among the injured were members who attend the Historic Vernon A.M.E. Church, one of the only structures that survived the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.
“I never had to hit the ground before in a shooting,” Vernon A.M.E. Senior Pastor Keith Mayes said in a live video moments after the shooting as helicopters flew overhead and ambulances arrived on the scene. “It’s been rough out here — actually seeing people get shot down close enough to touch them. All we can do at this time is just pray.”
Tre’Smith, a popular digital creator based in Tulsa, described it as a celebration of liberation turned into a night of terror, chaos and fear.
“I’ll never unsee what I witnessed last night. I’ll never unhear the guttural pain in the voices of those directly and indirectly affected by what happened,” he posted on Facebook. He also expressed frustration with people who used the shooting at Tulsa Juneteenth to demonize the Black community.
“Honestly, it pisses me off because I know that’s not what the majority of our community is about. Most of the people there last night really just wanted to have a good time, but it was all stolen from us and ruined by the actions of a few,” he said.
Tulsa Police seek video of shooting
“While trying to regain control of the area, a 22-year-old man was struck and killed under the overpass on Greenwood. Seven other individuals, ranging in age from 17 to an elderly woman, were hit by gunfire and transported to local hospitals for treatment,” Tulsa Police Department stated in a Facebook post. At least one 24-year-old man remains in critical condition.
Police believe there were two shooters involved in the attack. However, witnesses—many of whom were forced to walk past deceased and injured victims—either declined to cooperate or said they did not see the shooter.
Tulsa police are asking anyone with video of the mass shooting to upload it to their Evidence Submission Portal.
Saturday night’s tragic shooting followed a string of gun violence across Tulsa during one of Oklahoma’s hottest weeks of the year—an unsettling pattern researchers say is linked to rising temperatures.
“The recent acts of violence in our city – particularly those occurring downtown, are deeply troubling and unacceptable,” Tulsa Mayor Monroe Nichols stated Sunday calling on the violence to end. “I have directed our police chief and public safety team to intensify their efforts downtown and across the city. At the same time, we’re investing in long-term strategies to address the root causes of violence through youth outreach and community-based violence intervention.”
The Mayor’s Office will be announcing new measures at 2:30 p.m. Monday afternoon to “take back our city from this harm.” His announcement will be live-streamed at the City of Tulsa Facebook page.
Community leaders say solving youth violence is a collective responsibility
Tulsa community leaders took to social media Sunday to speak out after the Juneteenth shooting. They emphasized the role parents and neighbors must play in addressing violence across the city.
Dance Studio Owner Shields Children as Gunfire Erupts on Black Wall Street
The owner of VickyB’s Dance Co. recounted the terrifying moments during the Tulsa Juneteenth mass shooting, when she sheltered children inside her studio as gunfire erupted outside. One child urinated from fear, and she described praying and preparing to defend the children, saying, “I had to protect these babies, by any means necessary.”
Reflecting on the generational trauma and historical resonance, including the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, she added, “We deserve more. Our children deserve more. Black Wall Street deserves more.”
School Leader Calls Out Gang Crisis and Urges Parental Accountability
Gina Wilson is a principal at East Central High School in Tulsa. She visited the hospital to check on a student injured in Saturday night’s shooting.
“As a high school leader who works closely with Tulsa’s youth, I have witnessed firsthand the repeated cycles of fights, shootings, death, gangs, and deep-rooted trauma. Yet we continue to avoid naming the reality: we are facing a serious gang crisis in our city. We’re also not holding parents accountable in the ways we must,” Principal Wilson wrote on Facebook.
“This issue doesn’t begin when a child picks up a gun; it begins much earlier. The warning signs are there, and we’re ignoring them,” she said. Wilson urges parents to become more involved in their children’s lives.
Kode Ransom calls out adults who ignore youth
Meanwhile, community leader, coach, mentor, and Black Wall Street entrepreneur Kode Ransom sought to turn outrage into action. He shared a live video that has since garnered hundreds of shares and thousands of views on social media.
“Number one, it wasn’t enough police out here,” Ransom said, describing a police force spread too thin on a night with several permitted events in the city. “Number two, the lights on the east side of Greenwood didn’t work. The street lights wouldn’t come on.” Ransom said he’d called the city every day that week, urging them to fix it.
“The third one is, people keep trying to say it’s the young ones. Wasn’t it y’all daddies, y’all uncles, y’all paw paws who brought the gang culture here from L.A., right? They was proud of that sh*t,” Ransom said. “What happened is y’all brought that sh*t down here and lived that lifestyle. Then when y’all decided y’all was gonna change, you left us out here to deal with the consequences of the bullsh*t you created.”
Ransom is calling on adults in the community to join him at 10 North Greenwood, Suite B. He plans to take trips through the neighborhood, engaging with residents to address the violence.
Related Stories:
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- Tulsa native Kode Ransom receives Hollywood music award nomination
- Father of 13-year-old shooting victim wants change in “Hope Valley”
- Guns up don’t shoot: Oklahoma’s civilian and police gun laws create confusion, danger for black residents
Oklahoma 14th highest gun death rate
Oklahoma is no stranger to gun violence. It has the 14th highest firearm mortality rate in the nation, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.
In recent years, efforts to pass gun safety reforms have stalled at the state level. Oklahoma’s permitless open carry gun laws have made addressing gun violence more difficult. Even members of law enforcement have spoken out about the challenges these policies create.
A study this year from Healthy Minds Policy Initiative shows Oklahoma’s suicide rate is climbing as well, and most of those deaths involve guns.
When it comes to solutions, research offers some guidance. At least one study has shown that increasing community programs in a medium-sized city can help reduce violent crime.
The 2017 study, “Community and the Crime Decline: The Causal Effect of Local Nonprofits on Violent Crime,” analyzed crime rates for 264 cities over a 20-year period. It found that for every 10 additional community-based organizations focused on preventing crime in a city with at least 100,000 residents, the murder rate dropped 9 percent, the violent crime rate fell by 6 percent, and the property crime rate fell by 4 percent.
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I blame the stupid rapper that started a this shit with they bad musics degradgeing black pheople and they woman we don’t see other races doing this shit we did it to ourselves trying be cool and making millions of dollars why don’t try to help the black communities we are destroy ourselves by ourselves to
How do you know it was Black youths? Considering the country’s climate you cannot rule out shootings by white supremacist nationalists. Whites are known to bring violence into Black communities and hide their hand and so the blame is placed on the Black community.