Friday, May 16th 2025, 5:25 pm
A gun deal turned into a murder investigation this week. Police made a second arrest on Thursday in the shooting death of a northwest Oklahoma City man. The victim died on Sunday in his apartment near Will Rogers Park.
Investigators were able to search the victim's phone and found text messages between 24-year-old Thomas Wade III and two men from the Tulsa area. Police said they were arranging a meeting to buy a gun.
Gunshots rang out at the apartments near Northwest 36th and Portland late Sunday night. Police said Wade was shot to death.
“There were three other people in the home,” said Msgt. Gary Knight, Oklahoma City Police Department. “A woman and two children, none of them thankfully had been harmed.”
Witnesses said they heard the gunshots and then saw two men, later identified as Jaden Walters and Joe Walzer, run from the apartment and leave in a black Toyota Camry.
“It appears that the two suspects involved in this simply knocked on the door,” said Knight. “When the male opened the door they came inside, shot him and then fled.”
Court documents said a witness asked Wade who shot him and he could only reply "they" had just come to talk. Investigators also checked security footage in the area. They said the video confirmed two suspects were in the apartment complex at the time of the shooting and left in the car described by witnesses.
Investigators traced Wade's text messages back to Walzer and Walters, both living in the Tulsa area.
The suspects were arrested this week on first-degree murder and armed robbery complaints. The men are currently in custody at the Oklahoma County Detention Center with $10,000,000 bonds.
Police did not note in court documents if the suspects stole a gun from the victim or something else. They have not yet been charged by the Oklahoma County District Attorney's office.
Jennifer Pierce has been on staff with News 9 since 2017. She’s an Emmy Award-winning reporter often covering crime in the metro and court cases. A proud member of the Choctaw Nation and a member of the Indigenous Journalists Association, Jennifer also enjoys telling the stories of Native Americans in Oklahoma.
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