COPY-OSBI: Sallisaw Police Officer Shot Himself, Blamed Accuser

NewsOn6.com

SALLISAW, Oklahoma -- A Sequoyah County man arrested for the shooting of a Sallisaw Police officer on Monday has been released, because the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation says the off-duty officer accidentally shot himself.

Officer Wendel Hughes told police on Monday that he had been shot in the chest by 40-year-old Mark Sweeney.

2/21/11 Related Story: Sallisaw Police Officer Charged With Cattle Rustling Shot

The OSBI says its agents have determined Hughes shot himself accidentally and blamed Sweeney for the shooting.

Hughes is on administrative leave without pay after pleading not guilty in Sequoyah County to 31 counts of cattle rustling in January. He is accused of stealing 178 cattle from Sweeney.