Tulsa Towing Couple Mike and Mary Moore Killed in Workplace Shooting Months After Adopting 12-Year-Old Daughter
They had just become a family. Then, in a matter of minutes, everything was taken away. 💔
Mike and Mary Moore were killed inside their Tulsa towing business after a dispute over an impounded vehicle turned violent — but the most heartbreaking part of this story came afterward. Their newly adopted 12-year-old daughter is now facing life without either parent.
What happened inside that office? Why did a dispute over a vehicle escalate into gunfire? And what did Mike do in the final moments before he collapsed?
The full story — including the shocking sequence of events and the community rallying around their daughter — is here. 👇
Tulsa Towing Couple Mike and Mary Moore Killed in Workplace Shooting Months After Adopting 12-Year-Old Daughter
TULSA, Oklahoma — A dispute over an impounded vehicle ended in a deadly exchange of gunfire Friday at a Tulsa towing business, leaving owners Mike and Mary Moore dead and a suspect facing two murder charges.
But as investigators began reconstructing what happened inside the business, the tragedy took on an even more painful dimension: The couple had finalized the adoption of their 12-year-old daughter earlier this year.
Now, the girl they had recently welcomed into their family is facing the loss of both parents.
The shooting happened around 11 a.m. Aug. 28 at Mike’s Towing near North Garnett Road and Pine Street in Tulsa. Tulsa police said officers received multiple 911 calls reporting a shooting and arrived to find three people who had been shot.
Mike Moore was transported to a local hospital but later died from his injuries. Mary Moore was pronounced dead at the scene. The third person, identified by police as Darius Jones, suffered a gunshot wound to the arm. He was taken to a hospital, treated and later released into police custody.
Police subsequently booked Jones on two counts of murder. Authorities have emphasized that the arrest is an accusation and not a conviction.
A dispute that quickly turned violent
According to the Tulsa Police Department’s preliminary investigation, a group went to the towing business seeking a vehicle that had been impounded.
The exact circumstances surrounding the vehicle have been described somewhat differently in early reports. Initial accounts referred to it as a repossessed vehicle, while subsequent reporting has characterized it as an impounded vehicle, reportedly connected to a private-property impound. That distinction could become relevant as investigators establish the circumstances that brought the group to the business.
Police said two men went inside the office area to speak with the business owner. What began as a dispute eventually became physical.
Investigators reviewing surveillance footage determined, according to the department’s preliminary account, that Jones pulled out a firearm and pointed it at Mike Moore.
Moore attempted to defend himself by drawing his own firearm. Police say Jones then fired, striking Moore and also hitting his wife, Mary.
Before collapsing from his injuries, Mike Moore returned fire and struck Jones in the arm.
The sequence left three people wounded and two people dead.
Jones was subsequently taken to a hospital for treatment. After his release, he was taken into custody and booked on two counts of murder.
The couple behind the headlines
The shooting has drawn particular attention because of what happened in the Moore family’s life only months earlier.
According to Catoosa First Church, the couple had finalized the adoption of their 12-year-old daughter earlier in 2026.
The church identified Mike and Mary as members of its community and described them as people who were known for helping and serving others. The congregation has since organized a fundraiser intended to help with funeral expenses and provide ongoing support for their daughter.
That detail has become one of the most widely shared elements of the story online.
A report from 2 News Oklahoma said the community has begun rallying around the girl following the deaths of her adoptive parents.
The fundraiser’s description, as reported by the Hindustan Times, says the couple were regarded as loving and caring members of their church community and that the money would help with funeral costs and provide continuing support for their daughter.
Employees remember the Moores
The response has not been limited to the couple’s church community.
People connected to Mike’s Towing have also spoken about the loss.
One account published after the shooting described Mike and Mary as people who treated employees like family. The couple’s business had continued operating in the weeks before the shooting, with Mike’s Towing publishing updates about towing, recovery and road-safety work as recently as Aug. 27.
That makes the sudden violence even more jarring.
Only one day before the shooting, the company’s website published a routine safety reminder titled “School’s Back in Session.” Earlier August posts discussed vehicle recovery and heavy-duty towing work.
There was nothing publicly suggesting that the business was about to become the scene of a deadly confrontation.
Social media reaction grows
The case has also spread rapidly across social media, although the online conversation has included both factual discussion and speculation.
Posts circulating on X and other platforms have focused heavily on the fact that the Moores had recently adopted their daughter. Some posts have attempted to frame the shooting in broader political or racial terms, but those claims go beyond what investigators have publicly established.
The verified core of the case is considerably narrower: police say a dispute involving a towed vehicle became physical, Jones allegedly produced a firearm, shots were fired, and Mike and Mary Moore died. Jones was wounded and arrested on two murder counts.
That distinction is important as the case develops.
An arrest does not establish guilt, and investigators’ preliminary reconstruction can change as additional evidence is examined and witnesses are interviewed.
What investigators are still examining
Police have said multiple witnesses were brought in for questioning and that surveillance footage from inside the business was reviewed as investigators reconstructed the shooting.
Several questions therefore remain relevant.
Investigators will need to establish the full sequence of the confrontation, including precisely how the argument began, what happened immediately before the weapons were drawn and the actions of the other people who were present.
The circumstances surrounding the impounded vehicle may also receive additional scrutiny.
Most importantly, prosecutors will ultimately have to present evidence supporting the charges against Jones in court.
For now, the publicly released account comes primarily from police and local reporting, rather than from a completed criminal trial.
A family left behind
For the Moore family’s community, however, the legal process is only one part of the story.
The most immediate consequence is being felt by the couple’s 12-year-old daughter.
Mike and Mary had apparently spent months building a new family life after finalizing her adoption. Now, that family has been abruptly altered by a shooting that began with a dispute over a vehicle.
The community response has consequently shifted from simply asking what happened at the towing business to asking how the couple’s daughter can be supported through what comes next.
The church fundraiser is one part of that effort. Community members and people who knew the couple are also sharing memories of Mike and Mary and emphasizing their involvement in helping others.
What happens next
Darius Jones has been arrested and booked on two counts of murder, but the criminal case is still in its early stages.
Additional evidence, witness interviews and investigative findings could provide a more detailed picture of the confrontation and clarify questions that remain unanswered.
For Tulsa, the case is likely to remain in the spotlight not only because two people were killed at their own workplace, but because of the extraordinary circumstances surrounding the family they left behind.
Mike and Mary Moore had recently taken a major step in building a family of their own. Months later, their daughter is confronting the loss of both parents.
The investigation will now determine what happened inside the towing office that morning — and the courts will ultimately determine the legal responsibility for the deaths.
For the community rallying around the Moore family’s daughter, the more immediate question is painfully simple: how to help a 12-year-old girl move forward after losing the two people who had only recently become her parents.
