Sandy MaloneOklahoma City, OK – Bodycam video showed an escaped prisoner charging at an Oklahoma City police officer with a crowbar just before the officer shot him (video below).
The incident occurred on Jan. 30 after Kirk Dustin Shields escaped from the custody of the Department of Corrections, The Oklahoman reported.
Oklahoma City Police Officer Brandon Lee located Shields in a residential neighborhood and chased him on foot down a driveway and behind a home at West Park Place and Linn Avenue.
When Officer Lee caught up with Shields behind the house, bodycam video showed he deployed his Taser on the escaped prisoner.
However, the Taser did nothing to stop Shields from charging after Officer Lee carrying a crowbar as if he were going to smash the officer with it, the video showed.
Officer Lee took off on foot toward the front yard and, during the dash, switched from his Taser to his duty weapon.
The officer pointed his firearm in the direction of Shields, but that did not slow down the escapee who kept running toward him, the video showed.
Officer Lee began shooting and fired seven shots at Shields, the video showed.
After he was shot, Shields dropped to the ground screaming in pain, and his crowbar landed less than two feet away from him on the lawn, the video showed.
The video showed the escapee made as if to grab the crowbar several times.
“Don’t you move, man,” Officer Lee ordered Shields. “You reach for that bar again and I’ll put another couple in you.”
Shields was transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening wounds.
Shortly after Shields was shot, a homeless man approached police and told them he had been attacked by the same man near N. May and W. Park Place, according to The Oklahoman.
Police said 33-year-old Earl Wayne Alexander was bleeding from the head and said Shields had assaulted him with a baseball bat.
Alexander was also transported to a nearby hospital for treatment of his injuries, The Oklahoman reported.
Oklahoma Department of Corrections Spokesman Matt Elliott said Shields had run away from the Carver Transitional Center when the incident occurred.
He remained in the Oklahoma County jail in lieu of $75,000 bail, according to The Oklahoman.
The three-time convicted criminal is facing charges of assault with a dangerous weapon and escape from a penitentiary.
Court records showed that Shields has previously been convicted of larceny, burglary, and eluding police, The Oklahoman reported.
Oklahoma City Police Captain Bo Mathews said Officer Lee had been cleared to return to duty by the Oklahoma County District Attorney’s Office.
Watch the incident unfold in the video below. Warning – Graphic Content: