TAHLEQUAH, OK (KJRH) — We’re now learning what lead up to a deadly officer-involved shooting October 7 in Tahlequah; newly-released body cam footage shows the tense moments as a shot is fired inside a home after police entered.
Three officers fired five rounds after a tense 10-minute interaction. After the shots rang out, Bobby Vaughn retreated back into his home. That resulted in three hours of police and negotiators trying to make contact.
It all started with a call to 9-1-1 from Vaughn's ex-wife, who said he had pointed a gun at her during an argument inside the home. Police approached the house guns drawn, making it just through the door into the living room.
Officers talked to Vaughn, who was back in the house out of sight. Vaughn responded to the officer farthest inside the home, then immediately fired a single shot. That bullet still hasn’t been recovered.
The officers retreated outside - all but one went back behind their cars. After a couple more minutes, the final officer left the doorway where he had remained to talk to Vaughn and joined the others.
“I think they acted courageously," said Tahlequah Police Chief Nate King. "I think they maintained their poise and patience in a situation that was very tense.”
It only took about five minutes for Vaughn to come to the doorway with a gun. Officers pleaded with him to drop it, but instead he raised it toward them. That's when the officers fired, and Vaughn disappeared back inside the house. He was later found with a single bullet wound.
"They backed out as far as they could without putting other citizens in danger," Chief King said. "We couldn’t go any further back or we would have. And we can’t pack up and leave after a man shot a gun.”
Three-fourths of the officers on duty that day ended up being at the scene. The three officers who fired remain on administrative leave.
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