Second Amendment Rights are About to be Challenged in Tulsa
The shooting in Tulsa over the armed robbery of a large box of fireworks might well test Oklahoma's Stand your Ground law and the rights of all citizens to use the Second Amendment to protect their lives and property. And another ex con with a long string of felonies shows the idiocracy of being soft on crime.
After a few days the facts have firmed up along with some inside info gleaned from inside sources and we now know the facts of the case. A 27 year old swastika tattooed man named Jack Ulrich and a 15 year old nephew named Jake Ulrich had backed up to a firework stand in West Tulsa and grabbed a large box of fireworks and threw it into the back of their truck. The box was valued at $1200.00 but had been marked down as it was the last day of sales for the season.
The business owner and two of his sons reacted by trying to jump in the back of the truck to retrieve their goods, with the older son returning fire by shooting one shot through the truck window after being fired upon, blowing glass out onto the ground on the fireworks stand property. The business owner and the younger son were thrown off of the truck bumper, with the business owner being dragged a short distance as the truck sped away. The oldest son remained in the back of the truck, still armed with his pistol. The driver of the truck attempted to throw the eldest son out of the vehicle by swerving back and forth, leading the oldest son to leaning over the side of the truck and firing a single shot into the tire to stop the truck.
About a mile away the truck stops, the driver, the uncle of the teen suspect, bails out screaming to bystanders to call 911 and disappears for two days. Meanwhile the business owner shows up in a red car and the stolen fireworks were loaded and returned to the fireworks stand.
Deputies arriving about a half hour later find the 15 year old nephew with a gunshot wound to the chest, dead or dying.
Witnesses at the fireworks stand state that the armed robbers indeed fired the first shot as they were trying to escape, turning the robbery into armed robbery, and allowing the son of the business owner to legally fire back in self defense. The son's affidavit states that he really wasn't aiming at anything in particular, just returning the fire to hopefully prevent more shots from being fired by the armed robbers.
A couple of discrepancies come to mind. First, the 15 year old armed robber was shot in the chest, not the back. Until ballistics are done no one knows who fired the fatal shot but it is unlikely that someone behind the pickup truck could shoot a passenger in the chest. It is more likely that the driver of the truck shot the nephew by accident.
The driver claimed in interviews that they didn't have a gun and as an ex convict he shouldn't have had a gun yet the man had been convicted of violent crime involving a gun and convicted of having a weapon after a felony conviction. Not only that but the picture below was from one of the news stories online and there is clearly a hammer-less automatic pistol tucked into between the seats right to the right of that Monster energy drink. The point being that this felon has posted a selfie of himself and his wife with what is an obvious firearm possession. The fact that Ulrich had ran away with a dead or dying family member is bad enough but as he had a weapon in his possession he needed to get rid of the weapon before the police caught up with him.
Jack Ulrich has a long, long, criminal record. In fact, on the 7th of July, a few days after the armed robbery, Jack Ulrich appeared in a Creek County courtroom for a preliminary hearing for Second Degree Burglary, knowingly concealing stolen property, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, and for being a felon in possession of a firearm. Ulrich's bond was revoked after a phone call notified the D.A. Of Ulrich's involvement in the fireworks armed robbery.
Jack Ulrich and his wife interviewed with Channel 6 TV and had this to say:
"I want justice for my cousin," Ulrich stated. "It was wrong. I mean, we never thought somebody would shoot somebody over firecrackers. If that was the case, we'd never gone there, we'd never have done that. I didn't have a firearm," said Ulrich. "They seen how the whole incident went down. That's why I'm here today. That's why I'm out today." Actually, he was released because there was no active warrant for his arrest and the crime was committed out of the prescense of a police officer so charges and a warrant need to come first.
"Ulrich's wife Shania says her husband has a checkered past but set out to change his ways when he met her. She says he's not violent or dangerous:
"He's not dangerous," she said. "He never had any guns; neither of them had any guns."
Unfortunately for both Jack and Shania Ulrich the social media photo showing the butt end of the hammer-less automatic pistol and the criminal charges that Jack Ulrich was appearing on a few days later say otherwise. See the picture below and the cropped image showing greater detail. Jack Ulrich's long list of misdemeanors (CM) and felonies (CF) and other court cases over the last ten years scattered across four counties also say otherwise.
11/15/2007
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ULRICH, JACK LEERAY (Defendant)
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04/30/2008
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ULRICH, JACK LEERAY (Defendant)
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05/14/2008
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ULRICH, JACK LEERAY (Defendant)
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04/24/2013
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Ulrich, Jack Leeray (Defendant)
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04/24/2013
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Ulrich, Jack Leeray (Defendant)
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04/24/2013
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Ulrich, Jack Leeray (Defendant)
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09/12/2013
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ULRICH, JACK LEERAY (Defendant)
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02/26/2014
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ULRICH, JACK LEERAY (Defendant)
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03/10/2014
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ULRICH, JACK LEERAY (Defendant)
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07/03/2014
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ULRICH, JACK LEERAY (Defendant)
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01/08/2015
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Ulrich, Jack Leeray (Defendant)
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05/02/2016
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ULRICH, JACK LEERAY (Defendant)
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11/09/2016
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ULRICH, JACK LEERAY (Defendant)
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01/04/2017
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ULRICH, JACK LEERAY (Defendant)
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02/06/2017
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ULRICH, JACK LEERAY (Defendant)
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05/15/2014
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09/04/2013
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ULRICH, JACK LEERAY (Defendant)
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03/08/2017
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ULRICH, JACK LEERAY (Defendant)
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06/08/2017
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ULRICH, JACK LEERAY (Defendant)
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10/09/2012
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ULRICH, JACK LEERAY (Defendant)
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It would be a travesty for the son of the business owner to be charged with a crime. The man was in the back of a vehicle with the driver attempting to throw him out by swerving back and forth and the man was clearly in fear of his life both when he returned fire at the fireworks stand and when he shot the tire out. He was obviously thinking clearly as instead of shooting the driver he leaned over and shot the tire out to bring the speeding truck to a halt.
We hope that the Tulsa County D.A. considers the facts and Ulrich's long criminal history including his propensity to use guns in crimes before charging a law abiding man with only traffic tickets on his record with the killing of the 15 year old armed robber.
