One Killed Following Chase, Shooting; TPD Searching For Second Person

Tulsa police are investigating a chase that ended with an officer shooting and killing a suspected car thief.

Police say an attempted traffic stop quickly escalated when the man behind the wheel rammed a truck into a squad car as he initially tried to escape.

The pursuit ended just before 5:00 Wednesday evening with one man dead, another on the run and the stolen red pickup truck crashed into a property near Pine and Dawson.

Police said it started around 4:30 p.m. in the 800 block of North Louisville Avenue when police attempted to initiate a traffic stop on the truck.

Officer Demita Kinard said the man refused to stop and, instead, put the truck in reverse and slammed into the police car, disabling it.

Police said other officers joined the chase, but the driver continued to put lives in danger.

Kinard said, “At that time he then backed into a second Tulsa Police Department vehicle, disabling it."

As the chase made its way through the 4100 block of East Pine Street, a sergeant got out of his car and attempted to deploy stop sticks.

Police said that's when the suspect appeared to swerve, trying to hit the officer. They said the sergeant opened fire, hitting and killing the suspect.

"He was out of the vehicle and had stepped back off the roadway. The suspect vehicle then swerved, attempting to hit the supervisor off the roadway. The supervisor fired his weapon and the suspect is now deceased," Kinard said.

At one point during the chase, Kinard said a passenger jumped out of the truck and ran; police are still searching for that man.

Officers have not released the name of the deceased suspect, or if he was armed at the time of the shooting.