One trooper killed, another wounded

SALLISAW, Okla. (AP) -- An Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper was<br>shot and killed overnight and another trooper was wounded while<br>attempting to serve a warrant, the patrol said.<br> <br>Trooper Rocky

Friday, September 24th 1999, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

SALLISAW, Okla. (AP) -- An Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper was
shot and killed overnight and another trooper was wounded while
attempting to serve a warrant, the patrol said.

Trooper Rocky Eales, 49, a 20-year veteran of the patrol, was
killed, OHP spokesman Lt. Stewart Meyer said. Trooper Buddy
Hamilton, 39, was shot in the shoulder and was reported in good
condition at St. Francis Hospital in Tulsa.

The shooting occurred about 12:30 this morning. The patrolmen,
who were assisting the district attorney's drug task force in
Sequoyah County, were fired upon as they arrived at the residence.

"They pulled into the residence and apparently started
receiving gunfire right after that," Meyer said.

One of the suspects, Kenny Barrett, 38, was wounded during the
shooting, Meyer said. He was transported to St. Francis Hospital.

His son also was taken into custody, although his name was not
immediately released because it was unclear whether he was a
juvenile.

The shooting occurred at a house in a rural area west of
Sallisaw.

"He was one I had known for quite some time," Meyer said of
Eales. "He was a close friend, someone who was well-liked."

Eales was assigned to the Indian Nation Turnpike and lived in
McAlester. He leaves a wife and two children.

Hamilton, who lives in Fort Gibson, is assigned to the patrol's
special operations unit.

Eales is the 28th trooper to die in the line of duty. The last
trooper death was in 1990 when Joseph E. Nicolle died on his
birthday as he was flying a patrol helicopter during a marijuana
eradication effort.