No motive is clear in Spartan student's slaying
BY JARREL WADE World Staff Writer
Saturday, February 23, 2013
2/23/13 at 6:16 AM
Police and the surviving victims don't know what triggered a shooting that left one Spartan College of Aeronautics and Technology student dead and three others wounded Thursday evening, police said.
Mark Anthony Hopkins, 41, who is from Alabama, was booked into the Tulsa Jail about 4 a.m. Friday on one complaint of murder and three complaints of shooting with an intent to kill, jail records show.
Chaz Fain, 18, of Florida died about 9 p.m. at the scene of the shootings at the Spartan Landing apartment complex in the 1200 block of North 89th East Avenue, just south of the school, police said.
The surviving victims and witnesses remain confused about the motive for the shootings, Sgt. Dave Walker said.
All the people involved knew each other from attending Spartan classes together, and there was a "social gathering" Thursday evening in the apartment where the shootings took place, Walker said.
Fain lived at the apartment complex but not in that apartment, he said.
Hopkins lived in the apartment with two of the other victims, Walker said.
Hopkins' roommates and visitors, who all are about 20 years old, were at the apartment preparing for a night out when Hopkins left the room and is alleged to have come back shooting, Walker said.
The weapon, a .25-caliber gun, had not been recovered by Friday evening, he said.
"Everyone in there says they don't know" why the shootings occurred, Walker said. "There was no argument. No fight."
He said the only comment witnesses attributed to Hopkins before the shootings was, "Aren't you ready to leave?"
The three other victims, whose names were not released Friday, had wounds that were not life-threatening and were taken by ambulance to St. John Medical Center, police reported.
Hopkins was arrested about 10:30 p.m. Thursday in a parking lot in the 9900 block of East Admiral Boulevard, police reported.
Police had received calls about "suspicious activity" in the area that led officers to him, Walker said.
Hopkins was treated at a hospital for injuries to his hands that he suffered as he tried to escape, Walker said.
Fain's death is Tulsa's 15th homicide of 2013, according to police reports.
Doug Yost, senior vice president of Spartan, said Thursday night that many Spartan students live at the apartment complex and that police had briefed school officials about the shootings.
Spartan has been a Tulsa institution for more than 80 years, and Thursday's shooting was the first time anything like the shootings had happened there, Yost said.
World Staff Writer David Harper contributed to this story.
Original Print Headline: Spartan student's killing a puzzle
Jarrel Wade 918-581-8367
jarrel.wade@tulsaworld.com
Associated Images:
Mark Anthony Hopkins: The shootings took place in the 41-year-old's apartment. His roommates and visitors were there preparing for a night out Thursday when Hopkins left the room and allegedly came back shooting, Sgt. Dave Walker said. The surviving victims and witnesses are confused about a motive for the shootings
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