Police in Oklahoma released bodycam footage of a tense, four-hour long standoff from last Friday between officers and a male theft suspect. The suspect had fled towards a parking lot and hid behind a dumpster after police responded to a larceny call at a local Walmart.
“Hey, stop,” one police officer called as the suspect hid behind the dumpster. “Get down. Get down now!” the officer yelled, as seen in a video published by Tulsa World.
The officer noticed the suspect had cocked a gun and rushed to another position, while shouting to the suspect, “Show me your hands. Show me your fucking hands now. Show me your hands or you’re gonna get shot.” He shouted again, warning that the suspect was going to be shot if he didn’t comply.
The suspect responded by firing a shot, prompting the officer to cry out, “Drop the fucking gun now!” Back-up arrived at the location and surrounded the suspect as the officer repeated orders for him to drop the weapon and raise his hands.
The suspect complied and raised one hand. “He shot up in the air,” the officer who had fired shouted to another officer, followed by him remarking the suspect was “crying.” He repeated his orders for the suspect to raise both hands up. Not long after, the suspect spoke and the officer reported, “he said he’s gonna blow his head off, he said he’s gonna blow it.”
The officer begged the suspect not to make them shoot him and promised he would be helped. A negotiator then engaged the suspect and requested he come out slowly, saying, “Just crawl out slowly for us, partner, we’ll get you help but we need you to crawl out.”
The suspect, formally identified as 32-year-old Nathan Burks, surrendered and was later booked into the Tulsa County Jail on several charges, including assault with a dangerous weapon and larceny.
I know that the video and transcript are a bit vulgar but it speaks to the intensity of the situation. Despite being shot at, police still successfully tried to save the thief’s life and potentially prevented him from shooting himself. It kinda kills me that interactions like this happen every day but the media refuses to report on it because it doesn’t support their narrative.