OSBI Seeing If Sayre Shooting Is Connected To Michael Vance

Michael Vance, 38, is still on the loose after he started a shooting rampage, Sunday night.

Two Wellston Police Officers were responding to a call when they found Vance armed with an AK-47. He shot the police officers and injured them. They fired back and shot him twice in the upper torso, but Vance was able to get away in the patrol car.

Officials say Vance then went to a nearby mobile home park, where he stole a car from a couple and shot a woman. She has non-life threatening injuries.

Later, two people were found dead at their home in Luther. According to the affidavit for arrest warrant, the two people killed are Vance’s aunt and uncle. He shot his uncle and tried to sever his head and killed his aunt with a large knife and tried to remove her arm. He switched his getaway car again.

More than two hours west in Sayre, Okla., another shooting happened around 2:30 a.m. Monday. The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI) believes Vance could be the suspect.

OSBI Special Agent Dannie Sanders said it’s too early to determine, but they are seeing if there is a link between the Sayre shooting and the others.

“It’s very important for us to be able to connect the shooting. We don’t want to be going into different directions trying to find two different people when it’s in actuality the same person.”

While it’s not confirmed, many signs point toward Michael Vance. The OSBI confirms there is surveillance video of a small silver leaving the Flying J in Sayre and getting onto I-40 Eastbound. Investigators are working to enhance that video to see if it matches the stolen Mitsubishi Eclipse that authorities believe Vance is in.

Evidence from an AK-47 was also found on scene in Sayre.

Dickey Long, a friend of the man shot in Sayre, was there was it unfolded.

“I was hearing kaboom, boom right beside me there. I jumped up to see what was wrong and I hear him holler,” said Long.

Long’s friend was bleeding out after being shot in the leg between two RV’s at Flying J. The victim had just arrived after a long drive and was getting out of the vehicle. The suspect was there with a gun and told the victim to take him somewhere. At some point, a shot went off in the RV. The victim scuffled for the gun and was shot in the leg at least once.

The OSBI is calling it an attempted kidnapping.

“He would have been dead if he hadn’t jumped on the man,” said Long. He showed News 9 the bullet hole inside the RV on the curtain. His friend’s shoe fell off during the scuffle and was still on scene. Blood stains were freshly cleaned off the ground.

Long is hoping police identify and catch the man whether or not it’s Michael Vance.

While it’s still to be determined whether the shooting in Sayre is related, the latest on Vance is that he is still travelling in the silver Mitsubishi Eclipse with Oklahoma tags 943-LQQ. Call 911 right away if you see it and do not attempt to approach him. Vance is considered armed and dangerous.

Law enforcement officials have established a hotline to deal specifically with tips regarding the search for Vance. That hotline number is (405) 246-9205 and will be manned 24/7 by U.S. Marshals.