CATOOSA, Okla. — Thursday, Catoosa Police helped the Oklahoma Highway Patrol (OHP) cleared people out of a homeless camp located along I-44 in Catoosa. Police explained the camp was set up on Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT) property.
FOX23 spoke to a few people gathering their belongings. They said police told them to take what they could carry and be gone by morning.
After the sun came up, ODOT removed what was left, leaving behind a few pieces of trash, hypodermic needles and large ruts in the ground from heavy equipment used to remove everything.
The camp along I-44 was an offshoot of a larger camp that sits next to Catoosa’s Walmart Supercenter.
FOX23 previously reported that a woman was arrested for wielding an ax against a man in the area. The attack caused nearby schools to go into lockdown.
Catoosa Police Officer Jennifer Swarer explain, “A female attacked her boyfriend with an ax, and then she took off running towards the school.”
They said the woman was living in the homeless camp next to the Walmart.
Officers said they can’t do anything about the larger camp without being asked to by the property owners, The Kroenke Group.
FOX23 reached out to the Kroenke Group and the City of Catoosa, but they have not responded for comment.
This is a developing story.
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