Police Identify Suspects, Officers Involved In OKC Gun Battle

Police have identified the suspects and officers involved in a gun battle Wednesday afternoon in southeast Oklahoma City.

According to Oklahoma City police, at about 3:40 p.m., three officers with the Santa Fe Division, Sgt. Cody Koelsch, Sgt. Grant Brooks and Sgt. Clint Music, responded to the Plaza Inn, located at 3200 S. I-35 Service Road. A female caller told police that the suspects were holding her captive and trying to kill her.

10/8/2014 Related Story: One Killed, Two Police Officers Wounded After Gun Battle In SE OKC

The officers responded to the motel room and were met by gunfire when they attempted to make contact with the people in the room, police said. Two officers, Sgt. Koelsch and Sgt. Brooks, were both shot.

Sgt. Koelsch and Sgt. Brooks retreated to cover. Police said Sgt. Music took cover and returned fire. That's when a suspect, later identified as 39-year-old Shane Leon Rhea, ran out of the room holding a female hostage.

Police said Rhea and the woman ran south into a wooded area near the roadway, and emerged onto the east side of I-35 Service Road moving southbound. They entered onto the northbound lanes of I-35 where Rhea attempted to hijack a vehicle.

Officers said they confronted Rhea. Rhea and the woman then ran to the east side of I-35 Service Road. 

According to police, Rhea had the female hostage from behind, and held her as a human shield when he was confronted by officers. He pointed a gun towards the woman's head and refused officers' orders.

Police said Rhea shot and killed the woman. He was then shot by Sgt. Jeff Locke, who was armed with a rifle. Sgt. Locke has been with the police department's Training Division -- Firearms Range for 27 years.

"Several officers were trying to negotiate with this individual. He refused to surrender. He fired, killing the female. At the approximate time when he killed the female, an officer in an elevated position on I-35 fired with a service rifle, shooting the suspect," Capt. Dexter Nelson said.

Rhea survived and was transported to the hospital. He remains in the hospital as of Thursday morning. Police said he will be facing multiple charges, including first-degree murder, kidnapping, four counts of shooting with intent to kill, assault and battery with a deadly weapon, and pointing a firearm.

Additional officers responded to the motel where officers were holding several others at gunpoint at the scene of the first shooting.

Officers arrested two others, later identified as 30-year-old Bonnie Boen and 29-year-old Erik Patterson. Boen was wanted on a misdemeanor warrant out of Seminole County, and Patterson was wanted on a city warrant for failure to appear and seat belt violation.

One of the men in the room had been shot during the incident and is in serious condition. Police believe he was shot by Rhea. His name has not been released. 

Police said homicide investigators are still trying to determine if a kidnapping actually occurred. They have not identified the female victim who was shot and killed.

Authorities shut down I-35 northbound, from SE 29th St. to the north to the I-240 junction to the south, for approximately three and a half hours while police investigated the scene.

Sgt. Koelsch and Sgt. Brooks were transported to the hospital, suffering from non-life threatening injuries. All officers who discharged their weapons were placed on routine administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation, according to police.