TULSA, Okla. — A shooting inside a former Tulsa nightclub leaves a 19-year-old man dead.
Detectives with the Tulsa Police Department say a fight inside the Kickback Club in August may have led to the death of Nicari Owens.
Around 2 in the morning, police dispatch gets a 911 call about shots fired inside the club.
When officers arrived at the Kickback Club near Yale and Apache, they found Owens dead inside.
"Nicari was inside the Kickback Club, and it was an after-hours situation as well. He got into a fight with another person inside the bar. Shots were fired, and everybody fled after that,” said Lt. Brandon Watkins.
Officers say the club was later shut down by the ABLE Commission because the owner was operating without a license.
Lt. Watkins says the motive in this case isn’t clear, but it does appear to be gang-related.
“'It was most likely gang-related, and from what we are hearing, rival gangs meeting up at a place that kind of spiraled out of control. It just sounds like he was out with some friends and ran into somebody he was not on good terms with, and a fistfight started, and the fistfight became a gunfight or actually not even a gunfight, just a straight-up murder,” said Watkins.
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Tulsa police say there were numerous people inside the Kickback Club at the time of the shooting, however, they are having a hard time getting people to come forward with information.
Watkins says there was some physical evidence left behind, and it was evident where the fight took place.
Right now, detectives are working to identify who the gunman is and make an arrest.
'We had been given some information about who the gunman was, but it's kind of the same thing we are dealing with on the others. We need just a little bit more than what we've got,” said Watkins.
Officers say the death of Nicari Owens is the second homicide connected to the Kickback Club in a matter of two weeks.
If you have any information about the murder of Nicari Owens, you are asked to contact Tulsa Crime Stoppers.
That number is 918-596-COPS
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