Woman charged with attempted murder in hospital security guard shooting
Tulsa OK Aug 8 2021 A woman arrested in connection with the shooting of a Tulsa hospital security guard faces assault with intent to commit murder charges in Indian Country.
Karee Dawn Alvarez, 20, is alleged to have shot the armed guard in his chest in a Hillcrest Medical Center parking lot near 11th Street and Utica Avenue on May 27, according to an FBI criminal complaint filed Friday in Tulsa federal court.
The security guard, who was wearing a bulletproof vest, had minor injuries, according to the complaint.
The security guard returned fire, striking Alvarez’s hands, arms and torso.
The charge was filed in Tulsa federal court because Alvarez is a member of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma and the crime occurred in Indian Country, according to the complaint.
Since July 2020, crimes that have occurred within one of the Five Tribes’ historical reservation boundaries and which involved an American Indian have been prosecuted in federal or tribal court after the U.S. Supreme Court’s McGirt decision, which found that the Muscogee Nation reservation had never been disestablished.
An FBI affidavit filed in support of the criminal complaint alleges that the security guard approached Alvarez after hearing reports of gunshots in the area.
Alvarez, who was seated in a silver car at the time, responded that she heard the noises, but she said the sound was firecrackers that she had been lighting.
When asked where she was getting the firecrackers, Alvarez allegedly stated, “Right here,” just before grabbing a handgun and shooting the security guard, according to the affidavit.
Officials later determined that Alvarez had just been released from the hospital and had been wandering in the parking lot, checking for unlocked vehicles, when she found the silver unlocked car with the weapon inside.
Alvarez, who listed a Sand Springs address in her voter registration is listed as homeless on the Tulsa Jail registry.
