Accused shooter, Joel Blackburn, out on bond, area residents fearful

JENKS, Okla. -- A suspect accused of shooting a man three times in the stomach in north Tulsa is out on bond and living back in the community where he was arrested.

 

He was taken into custody at his mother’s house in Jenks on Thursday after a standoff with police near south Vine street.

 

Two days after the arrest, neighbors said they see suspect, Joel Blackburn from time to time coming and going from the house. Many said they are fearful knowing he is free.

 

Tulsa Police said Blackburn shot a man three times in the stomach after an altercation near the 500 block of north Norwood ave. They said Blackburn fled the scene, armed with a gun, and believe drugs were involved.

 

Blackburn, was able to evade police for several hours, before they tracked him to his mother’s house in Jenks, where police arrested him after a standoff. 

 

The information spread across television screens throughout Green Country. 

 

“I was watching it and I saw that house, and I was like that looks familiar,” David Wilson, a neighbor said.

 

The standoff for a suspected gunman, unfolded right outside his window and Jenks Police surrounded the neighborhood. 

 

“On one hand it's crazy, on the other it shocked me,” Wilson said.

 

Residents were forced to clear the area as officers and U.S. Marshals took Blackburn into custody. Neighbors said they were relieved, until he was released back into the community two days later on a $30,000 bond. 

 

“That's a pretty dangerous person to get out of jail that quickly,” Jamie Bennett, a neighbor said.

 

Residents in the area said they are now on edge knowing Blackburn is back home.

 

“People are talking about getting cameras and security and things like that,” Bennett said.

 

And she isn’t the only one preparing.

 

“We protect ourselves with guns here,” Wilson said. “So if he came down here we'd be able to protect ourselves.”

 

Neighbors said Blackburn’s return home is just the icing on the cake to the ongoing crime issue in the area. 

 

“My cars have been broken into twice,” Bennett said. “We've had vandalism, it's just not the neighborhood I thought I moved into.”

 

Wilson agrees, stating, “There has been a few thefts of cars but not on a big scale like that… that someone shot someone else.”

 

And for some residents, enough is enough. 

 

“We’ve already looked at a property, and intend to move within the next year,” Bennett said.

 

Blackburn currently faces charges of assault and battery with a deadly weapon. According to court records, this is his first criminal offense.

 

No court date has been set at this time.