TULSA, Okla. — One month since a deadly shooting in downtown Tulsa’s Blue Dome District, it hasn’t just been local business owners expressing concerns over safety.
2 News Oklahoma listened to residents considering leaving downtown and brought their concerns to the city’s public safety commissioner.
WATCH: Listening to downtown Tulsa residents on safety
Last month’s shooting happened near 2nd and Elgin, where there are lots of businesses like bars and restaurants. But there’s an increasing number of residents, like Preston Oberlender.
Living at the new Santa Fe Square complex, he saw the crime scene from his balcony.
We asked him a couple days after the May 4 shooting if it made him reconsider living there, and he replied, "Yeah, a little bit. I've only been here for six months and I'm like, 'Okay, like, Cherry Street would be cool."
But it’s more than just the shooting.
“I've taken my puppy out on the balcony,” he explained. “I've had bikers throw rocks at my balcony and like cuss at me. And at times I've not felt safe, just given there's bikers that sit here, rev their engine. There's homeless people getting in fights.”
“I highly recommend there needs to be more police officers,” he added.
We caught up with him over the phone this week, and he told us he’s even more certain about moving, saying not much has improved in his area one month since the shooting.
We ran into downtown resident Alex Rogers by Guthrie Green.
“When I heard about it, obviously it was scary, [I was] right down the street from where it happened, and I just moved in like a week after that,” she told 2 News. “Our community is great, and a lot of people came together afterwards.”
When asked if she has any concerns about public safety downtown, she replied, “Yeah, absolutely. There is definitely some sketchy people. I've met a lot of people down here that don't really feel safe.”
“Homeless rates are really high right now, and that's mainly what it is,” she added.
Lounge 88’s owner told 2 News on Tuesday he’s scaling back his operations and fears for the safety of musicians.
“Since the last incident that occurred down here,” said Brandon Frazier, “we’ve seen a significant decrease in reservations.”
We asked Tulsa Public Safety Commissioner Laurel Roberts what they have done to keep people safe downtown since the Blue Dome shooting.
She responded: “You know, downtown's always been a priority, keeping people safe even before the shooting. I will say that at the time of the shooting, there were officers, a handful of officers within very close proximity.”
Roberts told us she’s working with the city council and law enforcement to form a better strategy.
While she noted that violent crime rates downtown aren’t increasing, she said making people at least feel safe is important.
When asked what making people feel safer would look like, she replied, “Well, we know that people feel safe when they feel like that there is a presence of law enforcement.”
But she says that’s an issue, with police officer numbers down.
Despite all this, not everybody is concerned about safety downtown.
We ran into Niklaus Hulse, who’s staying at the Salvation Army for a rehab program. He told us he would definitely consider calling downtown home once he finishes.
When asked if he was concerned about public safety in downtown versus other parts of Tulsa he replied, “No, sir."
"Not at all 'cause I stayed in Fairmont Terra since at 61st and Peoria for a while. So, this area's way better than down there, 100% better.”
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