UCO Student Murdered in Northwest Oklahoma City
The Oklahoma City Police Department has reported no new leads in the ongoing investigation into the shooting death of UCO student Collis Walker, 22, in northwest Oklahoma City on March 14.
“Right now we don’t have any new information,” said Capt. Robert Matthews, public information office for OKCPD. “A lot of times in these kind of investigations, the detectives are going to play close to the chest until they can release the latest details so no one can take off and run. But, we’ve heard nothing new on where they’re at on the case.”
Police responded to a “shots fired” call at about 8 p.m. on March 14 when they found Walker, of Dallas, inside an SUV in a vehicle parking lot at 12241 N. Pennsylvania Ave. near NW. 122 and North Pennsylvania Avenue.
“When officers arrived, they discovered the shooting victim deceased inside of a vehicle,” said M.Sgt. Gary Knight, OKCPD assistant public information officer. “Investigators are still in the process of piecing together the chain of events that led to the victim being killed.”
Ray Walker, owner of Camelot Square Wine & Spirits on 12247 N Pennsylvania Ave., said someone came into the store and asked a clerk to call 911 on the night of the shooting. The individual, who police say is a friend of the deceased, can be seen on security footage asking for the clerk to call police before hiding down one of the store’s aisles.
Collis Walker, who played as a defensive lineman for the Bronchos football team from 2013 to 2016, was slated to graduate in May of 2018 with a degree in industrial safety according to Adrienne Nobles, UCO’s assistant vice president for Communications.
“We’re saddened to hear of the death of Walker, a senior at UCO and former Broncho football player,” said UCO President Don Betz. “Our thoughts are with his family and friends during this difficult time.”
Collis Walker’s death is being investigated as Oklahoma City’s 17th homicide since January, a number that is already up from last year’s 15 homicides within the same period.
Last year OKCPD investigated 92 homicides, a 10 percent increase from 2016’s 78 investigated homicides. With a rate of 5.5 homicides per capita, Oklahoma City ranked 31 out of 61 on the annual Major Cities Chiefs Association Violent Crimes Survey.
“It’s down from 2012, but it’s hard to predict exactly what those numbers are going to do, although they usually fall just under 100,” Knight said.