Cherokee Nation Marshals: Suspect dead in officer-involved shooting

MAYES COUNTY, Okla. — A man is dead following a standoff that began when authorities tried to serve him a warrant in Mayes County.

Cherokee Nation Marshals were serving a felony warrant in rural Mayes County, just south of Locust Grove on Tuesday afternoon. Deputies with the Mayes County Sheriff’s Office assisted the Cherokee Nation Marshals.

According to Cherokee Nation Marshals, the suspect took out a pistol as the officers were serving the arrest warrant and then the man barricaded himself inside his home.

“The warrant was for rape and two counts of child sexual abuse. When they went to the door the guy opened the door, had a firearm, a pistol, my officer shot three shots, the suspect shut the door and was barricaded in the trailer,” said Cherokee Nation Marshal Shannon Buhl.

The Cherokee Nation Marshals SWAT Team responded to assist.

1 dead in Harper County officer-involved shooting

The suspect was shot and killed when he came out of the home and confronted officers.

“We immediately got him on the phone and started negotiations. He wasn’t coming out. We deployed gas, he still wasn’t coming out. We deployed enough gas that he came out. When he came out, he brandished what appeared to be a pistol and he was killed,” said Buhl.

Buhl said it’s never a good thing when someone loses their life, but his officers did exactly what they were trained to do.

“It’s never a good thing when when anybody loses their life, so it’s not something that should ever be celebrated, in my opinion, we should take hard looks at everything. From what I can see, from what I know from the investigation, my officers and the Salina officer did exactly what they were trained to do,” he said.

According to Buhl, the FBI and the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI) will be investigating the shooting.

“Right now we have FBI on the scene, we also have OSBI. Those are the two agencies that are going to investigate the officer involved shooting. We don’t investigate our own, we leave it to OSBI and FBI to do all of our officer-involved shootings,” he said.

Buhl also said his prayers are with family members that were close to the suspect.

“I feel for the families that are involved with this individual. I hope that they can get through this. My prayers are with the family members that are close to this individual and the friends,” he said.

The man’s identity has not been released.

Buhl said no officers were injured.

1 of 7

Standoff in Mayes County, Oklahoma