Armed Suspect Shot, Killed By Tulsa Police

Tulsa Police shot and killed a man wanted on a shooting with intent to kill warrant when he confronted them while holding a shotgun early Thursday.

Tulsa Police say the department's Fugitive Task Force was looking for Donald Hallett, 44, in reference to a shooting last week.

The Task Force got a lead that Hallett was in the area of the 1000 block of South Birmingham. They set up surveillance and at about 1:45 a.m. Thursday officers observed him leave a house carrying a shotgun and a backpack-like bag.

Police say Hallett disregarded officers' commands to stop, pointed his shotgun at officers and ran. After a short chase, he stopped and pointed his shotgun at officers so they opened fire and killed him, according to police.

"As the suspect turned the corner he still had the shotgun, pointed the shotgun at officers and the officers fired at the suspect, shooting and killing him," said Officer Jillian Roberson, Tulsa Police.

11/22/2012 Related Story: Tulsa Police Find Pickup, Look For Suspect In Motel 6 Shooting

The task force was trying to arrest Hallett for the shooting of Lucas Knight at the Motel 6 at 1010 North Garnett on November 20, 2012.

Police said Hallett, a meth dealer, shot Knight inside a hotel room, where officers also found drugs.

"We don't think that was a robbery, nothing other than a disagreement," said Sergeant Dave Walker.

Police say Hallett had served time in prison in other states. They said they'd been told he had promised not to be taken alive and they knew he was armed.

Detectives say the task force members are highly trained and always have the goal to make an arrest without anyone getting hurt, but that outcome is sometimes controlled by the suspect, not the officers.

"I've been with them and they take people into custody, who are armed. People that obey their commands will have a successful ending. The bad guy goes to jail and we go home. In this instance, the bad guy didn't want to go to jail and we still went home," Walker said.

Tulsa Police are investigating Thursday morning's incident and the officers involved have been placed on leave pending the outcome of that investigation.

The officers involved are:

Cpl. Matthew Hart, 42; Off. Eric Spradlin, 38; Off. David Brice, 39; and Off. Christopher O'Keefe, 39. All four have been with the department more than a decade.