Passionate America: One Dead After Gang Related Shooting at Crossroads Mall.

A group of people congregate outside the southwest entrance to Crossroads Mall. Photo by Michael Downes (from NewsOK.com)

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Oklahoma City Mall Scene Of Gang Related Shooting.

When I was a boy Crossroads Mall was one of my favorite places to go. Now in my opinion, it is a gang invested ghetto and a hangout for teenagers.

The last time I took my family to Crossroads Mall we did not stay long. It did not take me very long to decide that it was a bad place to bring your family. Crossroads Mall as gone downhill fast and last night the slide continued with a gang related shooting, ending in one gang member shot and one gang member dead.

Sheriff John Whetsel of the Oklahoma Police Department said, "authorities did not find any gang involvement during their preliminary investigation." Well they must be horrible investigators, because I am sitting in my living room and I have found stories from numerous witnesses that say it was gang related.

Here is a transcript from a video at NewsOK.com:

Report #1 (Scott Coppenbarger): Crossroads Mall is closed but, Police and Sheriff’s Deputies are still working there tonight. We know one person is dead and another is in the hospital after shots were fired inside the mall just before 7 o’clock. News 9 was the first to tell you about it and Rosa Flores continues our coverage. Rosa

Reporter #2 (Rosa Flores): Well Scott Crossroads Mall is a crime scene and investigators have few answers for us, but witnesses fill in the gaps when they tell us what they saw.

Witness #1(Wesley Holden): “and I hear a shot pop off and next thing I know I see two comin around the corner. One got shot here in the shoulder from the back and he ended up layin inside the Garfield’s entrance and then another one comes around the corner and he gets dropped in the back of the head.”

Reporter #2 (Rosa Flores): Wesley Holden and his friends were hanging out at Crossroads mall and knew something bad was going to happen.

Witness #1(Wesley Holden): “Theirs been animosity between them all day. It was either the Southside Locos and the Jaritos or the Centrals.”

Reporter #2 (Rosa Flores): One witness says a member of the Southside gang shot a member of the Central side gang near the arcade. Sheriff Whetsel doesn’t confirm this was gang related but he does say one person is injured and another is dead.

Sheriff John Whetsel: There was a confrontation, and armed confrontation. A Deputy fired one shot striking that individual, the armed individual, that individual is deceased.

Witness #2 (Dr. Heath): I immediately got into the bookstore and got everybody down so that they would be safe. But it was amazing everybody did react in a safe manner.

Reporter #2 (Rosa Flores): But witnesses at closer range reacted differently.

Witness #1 (Wesley Holden): I just froze, cause dude got dropped twenty feet in front of me, two more feet to the left and it would have been me.

Reporter #2 (Rosa Flores): Witnesses say many shoppers were in the area of the shooting, but no one else was injured. Now in an update I just got from Sheriff John Whetsel the suspects had two guns, and it was said the suspect carrying one of them is the one that’s dead. Scott.

Report #1 (Scott Coppenbarger): So scary Rosa, thank you very much. Now Oklahoma City Police are in charge of the investigation, one person was taken into custody possibly only for questioning no charges have been filed at this time.

Another witness of the non-gang related gang shooting:

Ladra Morton, 13, was among those outside the mall at 7000 Crossroads Blvd. He said he was shopping with friends when he heard three gunshots.

“There was a big group of people who were jumping this kid,” he said. “You could hear them yelling gang stuff during the fight.”

Whetsel said authorities did not find any gang involvement during their preliminary investigation...(more)

Sounds like a cover-up to me. If the Police Department can avoid calling this a gang related shooting they can continue to pretend that this was just an isolated incident, nothing to see here. God forbid the Oklahoma City Police Department admits that there is a gang problem at an Oklahoma City area mall, then they would actually have to do something about it. Also notice there is no mention of the race of the two teenagers involved in the shooting. You can be sure that if they were white teenagers it would have been in the headline of the stories.

Update: More Okie's give their input about the shooting and the future of Crossroads Mall: Dusbury call's it Darth Mall and this guy calls it Gangbanger Central.

Update #2: Dr. Rusty Shackleford from The Jawa Report links with Morning Links: George Galloway is a Traitor Edition