Bodycam Footage Of Sand Springs Standoff, Officer-Involved Shooting Released By Police

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Sand Springs Police have released body camera video of the four-hour standoff last week with an armed and barricaded suspect near the Walmart.

The Sand Springs Police Department shared bodycam video of their encounter with Nathan Burks on Wednesday.

Police said it all started as a call about Nathan Burks stealing from Walmart, but they said when they found Burks, he fired at officers and then hid behind a dumpster.

Police said Burks hid behind this dumpster for hours and held a gun to his head. Officers couldn't see him, so they had to use a drone to keep their eyes on him.

Image Provided By: Sand Springs Police

“They knew that they had an armed and barricaded person in the middle of town and most busiest part of our city, and they knew that we were going to need help, so they got on the radio station and said, send everybody you can. Thank God everybody heard that call and came,” said Deputy Chief Todd Enzbrenner with Sand Springs Police.

Tulsa Police, OHP Troopers, and Tulsa County Deputies quickly raced to the area to help. Enzbrenner said Burks shot at officers, and officers shot back. They then spent the next three and a half hours waiting because the department's crisis negotiator was on the phone with the suspect. They said the suspect had a phone in one hand, talking to the negotiator, and a gun in his other hand, pointing it at his own head.

“It’s obvious from the video that we sent out that our guys did not want to shoot him, and they were trying and pleading with him to give himself up, so they didn’t have to,” said Enzbrenner.

Enzbrenner said the SWAT team eventually made the decision to end the standoff, and when they told Burks that, he gave up.

“There was a lot of rapport building with our crisis negotiator. This guy trusted him. He was concerned he was going to prison for the rest of his life. He was concerned that we were going to shoot him,” said Enzbrenner.

Enzbrenner said his officers did exactly what they were trained to do, and they are thankful no one was hurt in all of this, including Burks. Burks is now in jail for several assault and gun charges.

Authorities said he will receive a mental health evaluation.