Bricktown violence problem?

[BBatesokc]

metro, if you stay out of certain bars and don't purposely try to get in a fight, you're probably going to be just fine. Violence happens, but very rarely is it random, and very rarely did the victim not do something to instigate the violence in the first place.

I don't know if I'd go that far. But, to characterize an entire area as increasingly unsafe based on the happenings around the bars say from midnight-3am isn't exactly fair. You go around any crowd of young people that has been drinking heavily and common sense will tell you its likely that violence can occur. I'm not in Bricktown after say 11pm because of that very reason (unless we are at an MMA event at the Coca Cola Center - love those).

The few times in recent years I've been in bars that late, it was nothing to see a fight break out where the one being attacked didn't do anything to 'deserve it.' I've been in many bars in Bricktown and I still find them 'safer' than say Graham's and whatever the name of the cowboy bar is on S. Meridian.

That said, a person is a fool to go to any popular young bar in any part of the city late at night and not be prepared for all kinds of chaos - not that it always happens, but it can at any point.

[OklahomaNick]

I will say that my particular age & demographic (25 to 30) who used to frequent Bricktown has moved more north towards Western Ave. and even North Memorial Road.

Back in early November I swung by a bar in Bricktown to pick up a friend, and I literally witnessed a riot out in front of City Walk. Then I rounded the corner to see several guys beating up one guy in a dim lit parking lot behind there. This has really caused me to shy away from Bricktown whereas I used to frequent there..

[dankrutka]

Everyone always thinks crime is getting worse, but no one has produced anything more than anecdotal evidence that there has been an increase in crime. Bricktown has always seemed very safe to me. I used to run in Bricktown at night specifically because I felt it was safer than other areas. I've been to Bricktown about 100 times and I've never felt unsafe or threatened. I have witnessed a fight or two at a bar, but it was just two idiots duking it out. Something that will happen any place bars exist.

[Midtowner]

Did any of y'all hear about the scrotum ripping incident at Hudson's caused because someone wore the wrong colors? Must've been gang land or something. Stay the hell out of Hudson's.

[I agree, anecdotal information is not, by definition and function, very reliable for establishing a trend. Further, a collection of anecdotal information does not equal data]

[RadicalModerate]

If you walk into The Next Big Thing Bar in Bricktown and see this,
my advice would be to turn around and walk as quickly as possible
in the other direction.



Rumor/Word On The Street is that it was an isolated incident.

[Peach fuzz]

I don't want to get in to a lot of details, but I know one of the guys that got shot in front of city walk. He's a known mouthy trash-talker from Louisiana and he was calling a couple of guys out and they opened up on him. I also saw 2 fights but they were very very drunk-related. It's not near as bad as other places I have lived.

[Roadhawg]

I don't want to get in to a lot of details, but I know one of the guys that got shot in front of city walk. He's a known mouthy trash-talker from Louisiana and he was calling a couple of guys out and they opened up on him. I also saw 2 fights but they were very very drunk-related. It's not near as bad as other places I have lived.

So in other words he took his mouth to a gun fight.....

[Skyline]

How do all of these thugs find parking places in Bricktown?

I only thought that Bricktown had a parking problem, now it has violence problems too? haha.

[RadicalModerate]

So in other words he took his mouth to a gun fight.....

Perhaps one reason why Louisiana is sometimes referred to as "Duh Boot" . . . ?

[metro]

metro, if you stay out of certain bars and don't purposely try to get in a fight, you're probably going to be just fine. Violence happens, but very rarely is it random, and very rarely did the victim not do something to instigate the violence in the first place.

I don't go to any bars, so no worries here. That's not my point though Mid. Ask the Bricktown police if they don't believe a certain gang or two is going down there looking for trouble.

[Midtowner]

I don't go to any bars, so no worries here. That's not my point though Mid. Ask the Bricktown police if they don't believe a certain gang or two is going down there looking for trouble.

Have you asked the police? What did they say?

[Brandon_sharp]

How do all of these thugs find parking places in Bricktown?

I only thought that Bricktown had a parking problem, now it has violence problems too? haha.

LMAO! best post in this thread.

[Fantastic]

I'm in Bricktown quite alot after 10 pm, and well after midnight durring the summer. I'm there durring big events, and when it looks like a ghost town. I see absolutly NO evidence of a violence problem. Sure, a couple of morons shot up a limo, and a guy got beat into a coma outside Rok Bar. These events are undeniable, BUT they are no doubt isolated incidents. I NEVER see things like this happen, because they rarely do. Bricktown is fine, Bricktown is safe, and the most annoying thing is the vagrancy. And even that isn't nearly as wide spread as it is in other places. Go to Walmart on NW Expressway and Council at 1:30 in the morning and odds are someone is going to ask you for change for the bus........ at 1:30 in the morning... WHAT BUS?

[ljbab728]

This reminds me of people who are afraid to go to Cancun because of violence in Mexico. The fact that the violence occurs about a thousand miles away near the US border doesn't occur to them. As mentioned above, you are probably much safer late at night in Bricktown than walking in a Walmart parking lot on NW Expressway.

[oneforone]

You can be safe anywhere and you can be in danger anywhere. The key is paying attention to your surroundings. People are mugged at shopping malls daily because they don't pay attention to their surroundings.I remember when the Playstation 2 was the big item of the day. A guy got beat up for the Playstation 2 he just bought for his kid as Christmas gift in broad daylight. Mall Security Cameras showed the guy being followed by the suspect for over an hour while he shopped other places in the mall.

As a general rule it's not the best idea to be hanging out any place that attracts large groups late at night or early hours of the morning. The freaks do come out at night. You can be among them if you like, just keep an eye on what's going on around you and get out when things start going south.

[metro]

http://newsok.com/man-dies-of-injuri...rticle/3655447

[BoulderSooner]

http://newsok.com/man-dies-of-injuri...rticle/3655447

i would like to know more background on this story .... he died in a hospital in colorado springs? something does not add up....

[dankrutka]

i would like to know more background on this story .... he died in a hospital in colorado springs? something does not add up....

I was also curious why big pieces of the story were not connected together.

[MikeOKC]

The article is a bit confusing. The crime actually occured over three months ago in November. The family of the victim had him transferred to a hospital in Colorado Springs, where he died Tuesday.

[jedicurt]

The article is very confusing... i'm also still trying to figure out how this is the (insert number) homicide in 2012 if the incident occurred in November of 2011. Doing a quick google search for more information, what i gathered is that he was in OKC working at Tinker. His family is from Colorado Springs. After this incident occurred and they thought he may never come out of the coma, the family got him transfered to a hospital that was local for them. So he was moved there and then just recently died from his injuries. Also doesn't sound like they were just randomly jumped, but happened to get between two groups of people who were probably going to fight anyways, and they tried to calm down the situation while they were intoxicated (and i am assuming they were intoxicated, cause they chose to leave their cars in bricktown overnight and one of the guys wives (or girlfriend) was coming to pick them up.

[MikeOKC]

i'm also still trying to figure out how this is the (insert number) homicide in 2012 if the incident occurred in November of 2011.

I was wondering the same thing. My only guess is that deaths resulting from a crime occurring in another year are considered a homicide for the year the victim actually died. This would explain the 15th homicide of 2012. Sounds like a sad situation where the victim, and his friends, were at the wrong place at the wrong time.

[kevinpate]

It was a danged terrible vicious assault in 2011.
If he had woke up and recovered, it would of remained a danged terrible vicious assault.

It only became a homicide after the victim passed, and that did not happen until 2012.

[metro]

i would like to know more background on this story .... he died in a hospital in colorado springs? something does not add up....

He was in a coma here in OKC for quite some time. It wasn't looking good, so they medi-flighted him to Colorado where his parents live.

[OKCTalker]

The deceased wasn't involved in the altercation - he was simply exiting the bar at closing time on November 27 when he came upon rival groups. He raised his hands trying to calm people down when he was attacked. The victim was then transported to a local hospital. With little improvement in his condition, his family had him transported to a hospital in Colorado Springs closer to where they live. He died there on March 6.

I believe that the quality of the Oklahoman's reporting and/or editing has declined significantly, and I cite last week's story about Garth Brooks selling land in Edmond. The online story never reported the location, so there was much conjecture in the comments section about where it was. The print edition Saturday was more helpful.

Do they not teach "who, what, why, where, when and how" in journalism school any more?

[LowRyter]

bricktown is going to be great when we get this open carry thing going.

I am sure tourists will love to see folks carrying guns on their hip. Sorta like Frontier City but with armed amateurs.