Man Shot By Sand Springs Officer Was Schizophrenic, Family Says

Sand Springs Police say a suspect was shot and killed Saturday morning. Chief Daniel Bradley said the man rushed at officer, threatening him with a gun.

Saturday, April 11th 2015, 11:33 am

By: News On 6


A disturbance at a neighborhood ended in a fatal officer-involved shooting Saturday morning in the 700 block of West Trinidad.

Police still haven't released the name of the man killed or the officer.

Family members at the home didn't want to talk on camera today or give the man's name. However, they did say he's a 69-year-old Vietnam veteran who recently bought the gun he was using.

Police said they received a call that a man was firing a gun in his backyard in Prattville and went to the neighborhood just after 8 a.m.

Officers say he wouldn't drop the gun and threatened them. The man went inside his home, and Sand Springs police contacted a SWAT team for help.

The man again confronted officers, rushing at one with the gun pointed, according to Sand Springs Chief of Police Daniel Bradley. That's when Bradley said the officer fired three shots and the man was killed.

Bradley said his officers tried numerous times to calm the man, who they thought was experiencing mental health problems. Neighbors also told police the man had been acting in a threatening manner for some time.

Neighbor David Setterfield said he heard noises Saturday morning, but at the time didn't know what they were. When he found out who had been shot, he wasn't shocked.

"A long time ago, he was banging on a door with a knife one time when he forgot to take his medicine," Setterfield said.

Family say the man was schizophrenic. In the past year, they said, he stopped taking his medication, which caused him to behave oddly -- like mowing the lawn in the middle of the night and becoming violent.

Bradley said the OSBI has been called in to investigate, and the officer is on routine administrative leave pending the outcome.



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