A New Year’s Eve celebration at a rented home in midtown Tulsa turned deadly when 12-year-old Steven Bruner was struck by gunfire on the night of January 1, 2024. The party near 14th and Utica included a group of juveniles and at least one young adult; shots were fired from the street toward the house at about 10:30 p.m. Steven was on or near the front porch when he was hit and became the city’s first homicide victim of the year.

Investigators treated the incident as a targeted attack rather than random violence, concluding the shooters intended other teenagers at the gathering who had ongoing feuds. Police say rival gang conflict underlay the assault. Numerous shell casings were recovered, and surveillance footage plus cell phone data helped identify and lead to the arrests of multiple suspects. Authorities accused Salathiel Fields and Tajon Figures of firing more than 35 shots and named Alvin Chaplin as the driver.

A subsequent shooting outside the Tulsa County Courthouse during a preliminary hearing added further turmoil to the case but did not stop legal action against those charged in Steven’s death. Does anyone who knew Steven or who was at that gathering have information that could help investigators?