Juneteenth festival shooting: Why Tulsa city, business owners disagree on event's security numbers

The City of Tulsa says the organizer of the event told them there were 40 security personnel working the Juneteenth Festival Saturday night, where one person was killed, and several others were injured after a shooting.

The permit for the event says organizers anticipated 15,000 people to attend the four-day festival each day.

While the city of Tulsa says that the amount of security staffing is in line with best practices from the size and scale of other similar events, business owners and private security firms told News On 6 they disagree.

Security for the Juneteenth Festival

The permit approved by the City of Tulsa says event organizers expected 60,000 people for the entire four days of the Juneteenth festival, and 15,000 people each day.

On the night of the shooting, the city of Tulsa breaks down the number of security personnel working the festival :

1. 13 off-duty uniformed law enforcement personnel
2. 13 armed security officers
3. 14 t-shirt security personnel

The city says those numbers were given to them by the event organizer, Lauren Corbitt.

The permit says Donnie Johnson was in charge of staffing security for the event.

Permit details

Corbitt applied for a permit in December of 2024, and the Tulsa City Council approved the permit 11 days before the festival.

The city says these celebrations are made possible due to the planning that goes into the special events permitting process - a process that allows hundreds of other large-scale events to go off without incident all year round. It goes on to say that as part of this permitting process, the City always asks for security plans.

These plans include the number of security personnel to be present, as well as additional security measures.

The City of Tulsa's full statement

"For more than 30 years, the City of Tulsa has had safe and successful Juneteenth celebrations. These celebrations are made possible due to the planning that goes into the special events permitting process - a process that allows hundreds of other large-scale events to go off without incident all year round.

 As part of this permitting process, the City always asks for security plans. These plans include the number of security personnel to be present, as well as additional security measures. The number of security personnel required to staff an event are unique to the size and scale of each event.

 On Saturday, June 21, the Downtown Juneteenth celebration was staffed by more than 40 security personnel, including 13 off-duty uniformed law enforcement personnel, 13 armed security officers, and 14 t-shirt security personnel (numbers provided by event organizers). This amount of security staffing is in line with best practices from the size and scale of other similar events. Additional security supports offered this year included Tulsa Fire Department personnel for medical response, as well as 250 crowd control barriers provided by the City for additional safety.

 Additional Tulsa Police officers who staff one of the Downtown Impact Units were nearby. Because of their location in Downtown, these officers were able to respond within minutes of the incident occurring. Earlier this spring, the City announced that these units were upstaffed this summer to accommodate for more people and events in Downtown.

 The City of Tulsa is committed to ensuring safe events in the future, and while we understand security at large events is a big part of how we make that a reality, the gun violence we are seeing is being imposed by individuals who are brazen enough to do it with a heavy law enforcement presence just feet away. The measures the Mayor and Tulsa Police Department announced yesterday, in addition to ongoing conversations with Downtown business owners, are additional ways we are working to better ensure security and safety in Downtown moving forward."

Business owner reaction

One business owner in downtown Tulsa said the Juneteenth Festival was not properly staffed.

The owner of Andolini's Pizzeria, Mike Bausch, sent a statement that says, "One officer for every 1500 people is not enough."

News On 6 also spoke to two owners of private security firms who say events like these require much more security, and an appropriate amount would be close to 150 officers.

Juneteenth Festival Organizers

News On 6 has called both the organizer, Lauren Corbitt, and Donnie Johnson, who was in charge of security, but they have stopped returning the station's calls.

Black Wall Street Legacy Festival Numbers

The city also gave News on 6 numbers for the Black Wall Street Legacy Festival that was on May 31.

The permit says the organizer expected up to 7,500 people for the one-day event, and it was staffed with:

1. 16-armed law enforcement,
2. 8-armed security
3. 2 t-shirt security personnel