Oklahoma County Jail inmate killed after hostage situation with correctional officer
'We were able to get the detention officer out safely,' said Oklahoma County Sheriff Tommie Johnson III
An inmate at the Oklahoma County Jail was shot and killed on Saturday evening by authorities after holding a correctional officer hostage.
KOCO 5 News reported that after 4 p.m., a correctional officer was overpowered by at least one inmate during pill pass and taken hostage in a cell on the 10th-floor pod.
Oklahoma County Sheriff Tommie Johnson III said the inmate held the officer in a “hostage position” while holding an object to his neck. Officers then shot and killed the inmate, whose name has not been released.
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“Lethal force was taken, and the suspect was shot on scene. We were able to get the detention officer out safely,” Johnson said. “Oklahoma City officers were among those who did the lethal force.”
The extent of the officer’s injuries is not known, though it was confirmed that they were admitted to a local hospital for treatment. They are expected to quickly recover.
“The inmate was able to take his radio and his keys and free many of the other inmates that were on that pod,” said Greg Williams, administrator for the Oklahoma County Jail Trust.
During a press conference, Police Chief Wade Gourley said the department is currently investigating the incident though they didn’t have many details as of Saturday night.
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On Friday, protestors gathered outside the jail to protests the treatment of inmates and current conditions in the jail. Williams said until further notice, the jail would remain on lockdown.
“We’ll assess that and go through and kind of see how everybody’s doing. We’ll check on everybody and kinda see how they’re doing but typically it’s locked down at night so they can sleep anyway.”
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