https://newsok.com/article/559...-lake-hefner-parkway

Suspect in Lake Hefner shooting killed

by ROBERT MEDLEY
Published: Thu, May 24, 2018 7:00 PM Updated: Thu, May 24, 2018 8:14

A passerby shot and killed a man who went into a Lake Hefner restaurant Thursday evening and opened fire.

Oklahoma City Lt. Jeff Flaggert said officers responded about 6:30 p.m. to Louie's Grill and Bar, 9401 Lake Hefner Parkway, where the shooting had occurred.

Capt. Bo Mathews said a man, whose name has not been released, went into the restaurant and opened fire, wounding two people. After leaving the restaurant, the suspect was confronted by a person who was armed with a gun and opened fire, fatally striking the suspect.

Two people were taken from the scene in emergency status to OU Medical Center, said Lara O’Leary, spokeswoman for Emergency Medical Services Authority.

Mathews said one person fleeing the scene suffered a broken bone in his arm.

The suspected shooter was pronounced dead at the scene.

In addition to Oklahoma City police, Oklahoma Highway Patrol troopers are working the area to keep motorists away from the active crime scene.

Police are staging a family reunification area at the Lighthouse Center at 3333 W Hefner Road.

Mathews said the names of the victims and the suspected shooter would not be released Thursday.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Sigmund,

quote:

The suspected shooter was pronounced dead at the scene.

And there was much rejoicing.

Jeez all my family and friends are calling me right now. I've been in California since Tuesday and traveling right now.

My home is close by, North West diagonally from that restaurant, maybe 1.5 miles as the crow flies, across the water, at the NW corner of Lake Hefner. Our favorite restaurant, Red Rock Grill, is next door to Louie's, and I regularly use the trails right there at that spot. It's a very popular location for many reasons.

You never know, please just always be prepared.

quote:

The suspected shooter was pronounced dead at the scene.

Gene, glad you are safe.

How much air time do you all think this will get on network news?

quote:

Originally posted by drew3630:
How much air time do you all think this will get on network news?

Channel 5 has bumped "the last days of Michael Jackson", they will re-air it Saturday morning at 2:30am.

At least they are calling the armed citizen who intervened a hero and good samaritan. They are some things Oklahoma gets right.

So the guy walks in, starts shooting and injuring a couple of people, and then walks out? Sounds like he was targeting those individuals shot and then was getting out of there.

Nonetheless, bravo to the armed citizen for having the determination and means to act.

quote:

Originally posted by OKCGene:
Jeez all my family and friends are calling me right now. I've been in California since Tuesday and traveling right now.

My home is close by, North West diagonally from that restaurant, maybe 1.5 miles as the crow flies, across the water, at the NW corner of Lake Hefner. Our favorite restaurant, Red Rock Grill, is next door to Louie's, and I regularly use the trails right there at that spot. It's a very popular location for many reasons.

You never know, please just always be prepared.

Same here. My wife and a few coworkers go there for beers every other Friday. I had my first date with my wife there.

quote:

Originally posted by ibanda:

quote:

Originally posted by drew3630:
How much air time do you all think this will get on network news?

Channel 5 has bumped "the last days of Michael Jackson", they will re-air it Saturday morning at 2:30am.

At least they are calling the armed citizen who intervened a hero and good samaritan. They are some things Oklahoma gets right.

So far they are calling the good guy/gal a hero. Folks being interviewed are saying the same. Oklahoma doesn’t always get it right, but this time I’m proud of people.

Looking at the still shots on media sites at the scene I see lots of smiles on the faces of the officers present.

Press release from OCPD:

quote:

Originally posted by rockchalk06:
Press release from OCPD:

That reads like there were TWO armed citizens who stopped the threat.

Bravo gentlemen, bravo!!

Dear Mr. Good Samaritan:

quote:

Originally posted by Sig2340:


That reads like there were TWO armed citizens who stopped the threat.

Bravo gentlemen, bravo!!

Indeed. OCPD is going to host a live press release at 1130 Central time on their Facebook page. Not sure if anything else will come out other than what was on the above release.

quote:

Originally posted by OKCGene:
Jeez all my family and friends are calling me right now. I've been in California since Tuesday and traveling right now.

My home is close by, North West diagonally from that restaurant, maybe 1.5 miles as the crow flies, across the water, at the NW corner of Lake Hefner. Our favorite restaurant, Red Rock Grill, is next door to Louie's, and I regularly use the trails right there at that spot. It's a very popular location for many reasons.

You never know, please just always be prepared.

The house I lived in during junior high is three miles south of Stars and Stripes Park at the southern portion of Lake Hefner. The shooting location is on the east side of the lake, about 10 minutes from the house. It wasn’t there back in the late ‘60s...

This good samaritan makes me proud to be an original Okie!!

Has to be fake news. The gun grabbers always say that a "good guy with a gun" is just a myth!

A pal sent me this outstanding reply to the Honolulu Advertiser after they printed an article about the shooting:


Hellloooo? SA Editors?? You guys drunk or hit your heads?? You were supposed to parrot the approved CNN/MSNBC/DNC headline:

RACIST, ARMED RIGHT-WING WHITE SUPREMACIST REPUBLICANS SAVAGELY GUN DOWN INNOCENT MISUNDERSTOOD LGBTQ SOCIAL JUSTICE WARRIOR WHO INADVERTENTLY PICKED UP HANDGUN AFTER BEGIN DRIVEN MAD BY TRUMP RHETORIC, GUNSHOW LOOPHOLE AND FLAWS IN 2ND AMENDMENT. PUBLIC DEMANDS OBAMA THIRD TERM."

Get it right, guys...or we'll yank all your "I'm With Her" stickers off your mopeds.

"He said police officers thanked him for what he did once they realized his role. "They said, 'You definitely saved lives today,'" he recalled."

Complete article:

https://newsok.com/article/559...ies-says-hes-no-hero

Man who shot gunman at Louie's says he's no hero

by NOLAN CLAY
Published: Mon, May 28, 2018 5:00 AM

Bryan Whittle doesn't think of himself as a hero for stopping the gunman outside Louie's Grill & Bar at Lake Hefner last Thursday.

"Oh, no. No, no. Not at all," the master sergeant in the Oklahoma Air National Guard told The Oklahoman. "I just feel like I'm just an average guy who had the right tool to help at the right time."

Whittle and another armed civilian confronted and fired on the gunman Thursday evening minutes after he shot a woman and two girls from outside the popular restaurant, police said.

The gunman was killed after he raised his weapon and fired again, police and eyewitnesses said.

"I just reacted," Whittle, 39, said. "I just did it. I wasn't thinking about anything other than I had to stop this guy and I'm not going to die here."

Whittle lives in The Village near Lake Hefner. He and his wife, Shannon, had just started on a fishing trip to a lake in eastern Oklahoma for the Memorial Day weekend.

"We just were about to get on the highway and we both saw a big commotion going on down by where the restaurants are," he said.

His first thought was that someone was drowning because people were running toward the lake.

"I had a first-aid kit. I thought maybe I could help," he said.

After pulling into the parking lot, he was told by witnesses a girl had been shot. They pointed out the shooter, about 25 feet away.

He yelled at his wife to throw him a bag with his gun. She did, telling him she loved him as he got his .40-caliber semi-automatic pistol out and started off to where everybody was pointing.

He kept crouched down behind a row of parked cars for cover until he got close enough.

He went around the side of a larger vehicle and began yelling at the gunman, "Put it down! Put it down!"

He then realized the gunman was wearing ear muffs and probably couldn't hear his commands. Whittle started gesturing with his hand, too.

The gunman instead raised his weapon, and Whittle dived for cover.

"I hear shots go off," he recalled. "As I'm falling on the ground, I'm like, 'Oh, my God! He's shooting at me! He's shooting at me!'

"I thought, 'Look, I'm not going to die on the ground. I'm not going to die here. I've got to engage this guy. I've got to stop him,'" he said. "I didn't want to die helpless. If I was going to die, I was going to try."

He said he jumped back up and ran around to the other side of the car.

"I think he thought I was going to be coming from the past direction," he said. "I got to the hood of the car. ... He turns around, looks at me. And then I see the gun again in his hand and then I, you know, finished trying to stop the threat. Until he fell on the ground."

He was not aware another armed civilian had come to help until he heard a guy say, "Clear him. I got you. Clear him."

The second civilian was identified by police as Juan Carlos Nazario, 35. The security guard told one TV station that he just did what he was trained to do "to neutralize the situation."

Nazario has not talked to the media at length about the confrontation. He has said he needed time to soak everything in.

Whittle gave his first in-depth media interview Saturday to The Oklahoman at the urging of his proud great-uncle, state Rep. Bobby Cleveland.

"Bryan is a very rare individual," Cleveland said. "He just feels ... he just happened to be there in the right time at the right place."

Whittle agreed, saying, "I guess God puts us in a place for a reason."

He has been reluctant to speak about his experience because he doesn't want what he did to be politicized.

"I just feel like anybody would have done what I did if they had the ability to do it," he said.

Whittle, who works for the Federal Aviation Administration, brought to the situation both his military training and military experience from being deployed to hostile areas. He said he's been deployed eight times in his more than 18 years of military service.

He said police officers thanked him for what he did once they realized his role. "They said, 'You definitely saved lives today,'" he recalled.

The gunman was identified by police as Alexander C. Tilghman, 28, of Oklahoma City.

In April, Tilghman pleaded for help in a YouTube video, saying he was "under hard-core demonic attack."

Whittle is not surprised.

"Anybody committing anything like that would have to have some kind of mental issue," Whittle said.

He said the gunman never said anything during their encounter.

"He just looked dazed," Whittle said. "And he tilted his head. And then that's when he raised up his weapon. And he fired."