Campus Officer Shoots At Car With Students Inside



Posted: May 28, 2014 9:47 PM EDTUpdated: May 28, 2014 9:47 PM EDT
An officer with Tulsa Public Schools is on suspension after he shot at a car with two students inside.
Right now Tulsa Public Schools and the Tulsa Police Department are trying to find out why a campus officer pulled the trigger knowing two minors were in the car.
At around 1:30 a.m. on Sunday morning the officer spotted a car in a parking lot at Eliot Elementary School. He thought it was kind of suspicious so he went to check it out.
TPD Sgt. David Walker who is investigating this case, said the officer approached the passenger side of the vehicle. He saw a teenage boy and girl inside and he asked them what they were up to. After exchanging some words the officer walked over to the driver side of the car and asked the teenage boy for identification.
"He had found from the report I have seen that he found liquor in the car both students were under age," said Chris Payne, Executive Director of Communications with Tulsa Public Schools.
Officials said the Edison High School students were engaging in intimate activity when the officer pulled up. While the officer investigated the teenager backed his car up and then tried taking off. That's when the officer shot at the car striking the tire.
"A 17- year -old kid behind a 3,000 pound car is dangerous if he doesn't know what he is doing and I think that is where we are at odds. Is to he shot into a car that had kids, but that car was doing something in the officer's mind that can put us imperil," Sgt. Walker said.
The officer said he fired his gun because he felt in danger of getting run over. Sgt. Walker interviewed both the officer and teenage boy. He said their stories line up, until the point where the student attempts to leave.
"It's matter of where the officer was when the kid started to move. The officer explained that he was behind the car at one point when the kid started to back up so he had to jump out of the way for that," Sgt. Walker said.
The 17 -year -old told Sgt. Walker his intentions were to leave, not harm the officer.
"He was kind of in a situation he didn't want to be in so his 17- year- old reaction was to just leave," Sgt. Walker said.
Tulsa Public Schools refuses to release the name of the officer involved in the shooting. That officer is suspended with pay pending the investigation.