Tulsa Police Officer Injured When Assaulted With Large Stick

NewsOn6.com

TULSA, Oklahoma -- A Tulsa Police officer was treated for a head wound after getting hit with a large stick early Thursday morning.

The incident occurred near Edison High School in the 2800 East 41st Street at about 4:15 a.m.

Officers were called to the school by campus police because of reports of a man waving a large stick.

When police approached the 37-year-old man, he ran towards the officers waving the stick which was about 4 feet in length and 2-3 inches in diameter.

The officers remained in their cars and followed James Shanklin as he walked into a nearby neighborhood.

Tulsa Police say an officer approached Shanklin again, hemming him in with his patrol car.

As the officer got out of his car, Shanklin threw the stick at the officer, hitting the officer in the head.

"Definitely something's not right, I mean it's not normal behavior to take a large stick at a police officer, but it does not appear that intoxication is an issue," said Tulsa Police Captain Travis Yates.

The injury didn't stop the officer who took the suspect into custody. Police arrested James Shanklin on complaints of assault and battery on a police officer, resisting arrest and false impersonation. 

Shanklin was booked into the Tulsa County jail.

The officer was treated at the scene by EMSA paramedics.  He did go to the hospital where he got five staples in his head.