OSBI Names Man Shot, Killed By Sallisaw Police

A suspect is dead after a shooting in Sequoyah County. The sheriff says at least one Sallisaw officer shot the man. He's been identified as 27-year-old Shawn Taylor Watie of Stilwell.

Traffic was being diverted around the scene on Highway 59, where OSBI was investigating along with police and deputies.

The Sequoyah County Sheriff’s Office says two Sallisaw Police officers showed up to the area after a business called them about a suspicious person. OSBI said the man was walking along the highway, and the caller said the man resembled an inmate that reportedly escaped from Missouri.

Police made contact with Watie, and investigators say he took out a knife and came at police. 

Sheriff Larry Lane says that's when officers fired at Watie. The two officers rendered aid until EMS took Watie to the hospital where he later died, a news release states.

"Officers unfortunately had to use deadly force," said Sheriff Larry Lane.

At this point, Lane says he doesn't know how many shots were fired.

59 Auto Sales and Service Owner Devin Guthrie wasn't at work when the shooting happened, but could see investigators heading to the scene on his surveillance video.

He says it's unusual to see someone walking on the side of the busy highway.

"On I-40, you know a half a mile north of here, you will see some, but down here you don't hardly ever see people walking," he said.

Sheriff Lane said OSBI will not have any body camera video to look at while investigating the deadly shooting.

"Unfortunately that Sallisaw officer had just got called in to cover a shift for another officer that was sick, and he hadn't made it to the police department to retrieve his body camera yet when this call came out," the sheriff said.

Lane said the other Sallisaw officer is a detective and does not wear a body camera.

The two Sallisaw officers are on routine paid administrative leave while the OSBI investigates. The Sequoyah County District Attorney will determine if the shooting was justified.