TALIHINA, Okla. (KFOR) – Nearly six months after a shootout injured six troopers, investigators say one trooper who avoided severe injuries is being given a new ballistic vest.
In May, officers with the Talihina Police Department asked the Oklahoma Highway Patrol for help while serving an arrest warrant for 52-year-old Bradley Webster.
The McAlester News-Capital says officers were concerned about taking Webster into custody after receiving a report from an informant that Webster might be armed with an AK-47 and Uzi pistol. A search warrant affidavit claims that Webster told the informant he had the weapons “because he was not going back to jail and was ready to go on a shooting spree at City Hall.”
Capt. Paul Timmons, with the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, says that troopers were immediately fired upon when they reached Webster’s property in Talihina.
During the shootout, a fire started inside the downtown Talihina structure. Webster died at the scene.
Once the shooting was over, officials learned that several troopers suffered minor injuries. In all, OHP says Brett Stephens, Brandon Seward, Christopher Bunch, Chance Tuttle, Jason Ross, and Timothy Wesley all received minor injuries during the melee.
As paramedics were looking over the troopers, they realized that Trooper Sammy Lee had been struck in his ballistic vest by a bullet fragment. The vest stopped the bullet fragment from reaching his lower right torso.
Six months after the shootout, Lee will receive a new vest later this week.
