TPD Identifies Officers Involved In Fatal Confrontation With Suspect

<p>The Tulsa Police Department has released the names of the three police officers involved in the Saturday death of most wanted suspect Madison Dickson. </p>

Monday, March 20th 2017, 11:39 am

By: Amy Slanchik

TPD Identifies Officers Involved In Fatal Confrontation With Suspect

A Tulsa Police officer is on paid leave after running over Tulsa’s most wanted fugitive, killing her.

Police said officers pulled over 21-year-old Madison Dickson at 91st and Harvard Saturday. They said when she pointed a gun, two officers opened fire and a third ran her over.

TPD said Officer Jonathan Grafton hit Dickson with his patrol car near Jenks East Elementary on Saturday, killing her.

"If you have to use any means to end that threat - not necessarily that person's life, but to end that threat - that's what you do," Sergeant Shane Tuell with the Tulsa Police Department said.

Tuell said Dickson pointed her gun at officers several times.

"The investigation is still ongoing on whether or not she fired - we know we did fire, but on whether or not she did," he said.

Tulsa Police say Officer Kayla Johnson and Detective Ronnie Leatherman are the two who fired their guns at the scene.

Tuell said officers had been looking for Dickson for quite a while, saying she was not only a threat to the officers, but to the entire community.

Police wanted to arrest Dickson for what they call a "slew of crimes" within the last week - a shooting at a Best Buy, pointing a gun at someone outside of a movie theater, and shooting a woman in the arm at a Walgreens.

Tuell said, "She shot someone in a Walgreens parking lot. She shot at an individual that was supposed to be a friend of hers."

Dickson had a history of other crimes and arrests, including stealing an Osage County deputy's car in 2015.

"We were looking for her for a slew of crimes that she had started and we wanted to put an end to those crimes by putting her in jail - unfortunately that didn't happen that way," said Tuell.

TPD says Johnson's date of hire with TPD was July 2, 2012, Leatherman's was January 3, 2000 and Grafton's was January 24, 2011.
Grafton has been placed on routine administrative leave with pay, TPD says.