Cops Hunt for Teen After Osage Casino Hotel Shooting

Police in Oklahoma are looking for an 18-year-old guy connected to a shooting at the Osage Casino Hotel in Tulsa over the weekend. The event, which happened early Saturday, injured two people and kicked off a search across multiple states.

Gunfire at Tulsa Casino Leaves Two Injured, Police Seek Person of Interest

Cops from the Osage County Sheriff’s Office and the Osage Nation Police Department showed up after emergency calls came in around 1:00 a.m. on April 12. People reported hearing gunshots at the casino near West 36th Street North and North Osage Drive. When the deputies got there, they found two people shot, as reported by local media outlet KRMG. Ambulances took the wounded to nearby hospitals, but we do not know how they are doing now.

The police are looking for Malik Sampson as a person of interest. They describe him as a black man about 6 feet 1 inch tall, weighing around 165 pounds, with several tattoos, including some on his neck. The cops think he ran off before they arrived at the scene.

Investigators think Sampson might be going to Texas to Arlington where he lives. He also has family in Tulsa, which makes the police worry he could travel between these places. Because of this, police in Oklahoma and Texas are on high alert.

Casinos Under Scrutiny After Violent Incidents, Including Recent Shootings

This shooting adds to the number of violent events at casinos run by the Osage Nation. Last year in May, Oklahoma cops nabbed Jonathan Shane Ford, 25, for his alleged involvement in a shooting at the Osage Casino Hotel parking lot. Ford shot a man in the leg before taking off in a Dodge Journey with Ponca Nation plates. US Marshals and local deputies tracked down and caught Ford in Tulsa. He then faced several charges, including shooting with intent to kill and assault with a deadly weapon. 

Another recent case saw a 20-year-old man from Gunter, Texas, known as A.L., being cleared of charges related to a deadly stabbing at Choctaw Casino and Resort-Durant last summer. At first, prosecutors charged him with first-degree murder for the death of 51-year-old P.W.

Later, they lowered the charge to manslaughter. A.L. said he was not guilty, and a Bryan County jury agreed, finding him not guilty. The stabbing happened in the casino’s parking garage during an argument between the two men. Security cameras caught the fight on video, but it is still not clear what started it or if A.L. was defending himself.

The recent violence has people worried again about how safe gaming places are. We do not know why Saturday’s shooting happened yet. The ongoing search for the shooter shows how important it is to catch them and stop more incidents from happening.