Man killed by Okla. trooper over rescue ID'd as pastor
OKMULGEE, Okla. - The Oklahoma Highway Patrol has released the name of a Tulsa man shot and killed by state troopers during a fight as they tried to rescue the man and his brother from floodwaters.
Capt. Paul Timmons said Sunday that Nehemiah Fischer, 35, who is identified by CBS affiliate KOTV as a pastor, was killed and his brother Brandon Fischer, 41, was arrested for assault and public intoxication.
Brandon Fischer remains in the county jail and is expected to appear in court Monday, reports the station.
Timmons said a gun found at the scene belonged to Nehemiah Fischer, but it was not clear whether it had been fired.
The shooting took place Friday evening after troopers responded to a stranded vehicle in Okmulgee County, about 20 miles south of Tulsa. Troopers say they found Nehemiah and Brandon Fischer pushing a truck out of flood waters and subsequently ordered them to higher ground because of rapidly rising water, according to the station.
"As they were exiting the water, coming towards the troopers, a confrontation occurred," Timmons said, reports the station. "One of the troopers was actually assaulted, and in defense of himself, he fired."
Timmons said the troopers, whose names haven't been released, were not injured.
KOTV reports Nehemiah Fischer was an associate pastor at Faith Bible Church in Tulsa. Members of the congregation, including pastor Don Hargrove, say Fischer doesn't fit the picture of a man who would assault an officer.
"That's not Nehemiah, there's no way he would do that knowingly," Hargrove told the station.
"He's the finest man I've met in my entire life."