Witness on Okla. manhunt suspect: "He just started shooting at everybody"
WELLSTON, Okla. — A witness says a fugitive suspected in an Oklahoma rampage that left two dead and two officers wounded Sunday “just started shooting,” reports CBS affiliate KOTV
Officers Jimmy Hampton and Shawn Stewart were wounded in a shootout with a man who police say is Michael Vance, a fugitive suspected of killing and attempting to decapitate two relatives in the midst of a string of crimes that preceded a massive ongoing manhunt. Vance remains on the run Tuesday, and police warn that he is armed and may have a list of people he is targeting.
Witness Michael Cox told the station Vance’s property is covered in bullet holes.
“He just started shooting at everybody,” Cox said. “He had two guns. He had an automatic .22 jammed on him, then he got the AK,” said Cox.
While the two Oklahoma police officers recover from wounds, the town’s police chief says he’s now working with less than half his patrol force.
Wellston Police Chief Tim Estes says the department has three full-time police officers. Two of them are shot, one in the calf and the other in the foot, leaving Estes and one part-time officer-in-training to police the town for the time being.
One of the officers fired back at Vance and struck him, but Vance fled the scene in a patrol car, which authorities say he later abandoned before shooting a man in the leg in an attempted carjacking early Monday in Sayre, about 30 miles from the Texas border. Sayre Police Chief Ronnie Harrold said the man identified Vance as the man who shot him.
Vance apparently posted several Facebook Live videos while on the run.
The arrest warrant for Vance also includes charges of an unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and possession of a firearm after former conviction of a felony.
The Oklahoma Highway Patrol said Vance is believed to be driving a silver 2007 Mitsubishi Eclipse with an Oklahoma license plate of 943LQQ. Vance is described as Native American, standing 5 feet 11 inches tall and weighing 212 pounds.