In the late hours of a September night in 2011, violence erupted in a North Tulsa neighborhood, leaving a young man dead and several others wounded. Ernest Dixon, a 26-year-old male, was with a group of men in front of a house in the 4200 block of North Hartford when the tranquil evening was shattered by the sound of gunfire. Another group of men had approached them, brandished weapons, and opened fire into the crowd.
The sudden and brutal attack left a scene of chaos and bloodshed.
When the shooting stopped, Ernest Dixon lay dead, his life cut short in a burst of violence. Three other individuals were also struck by bullets, their injuries adding to the grim toll of the evening. The assailants fled the scene, disappearing into the night.
Tulsa Police were called to the scene to begin the arduous task of piecing together the events of that tragic night. Investigators quickly determined that the shooting was gang-related, a violent chapter in an ongoing feud. However, the identities of the men who pulled the triggers remained elusive.
In the days and weeks that followed, the investigation into Ernest Dixon's murder continued, yet no suspects were publicly named, and no arrests were made. The case, like so many others born of sudden violence, was fraught with the challenges of finding witnesses willing to come forward in a community often plagued by fear and mistrust. Despite the efforts of law enforcement, the individuals responsible for the death of Ernest Dixon and the wounding of three others have never been brought to justice, and the case remains an unsolved homicide in the city of Tulsa.
