Oklahoma City Mother Mourns Her Son After Fatal Police Shooting

An Oklahoma City mother, Jeannie McClaine, spoke with News 9 on Monday following a fatal weekend police shooting that killed her 34-year-old son, Daniel Hobbs. 

“I don't understand why he was shot,” McClaine said. 

An Oklahoma City police officer responded to a 911 call Saturday after 7 p.m. from a homeowner who said Hobbs was in their front yard on Northwest 33rd Street. 

The caller said Hobbs was in violation of a protective order, which police communicated to media shortly after the shooting. On Monday, police confirmed that no such order exists. 

The first officer to respond, Daniel Lopez, was alone and attempted to pat down Hobbs to check for weapons when “a struggle ensued,” said Capt. Dan Stewart. 

“The officer pulled his firearm and discharged it while they were on the ground struggling,” Stewart said Saturday evening. 

As of Monday, police have not said whether Hobbs was armed with a weapon at the time of the shooting. Lopez is set to be interviewed Tuesday, according to Stewart. 

Hobbs had previously been diagnosed with schizophrenia, according to McClaine, and had not taken his medications for months. She said Hobbs was fleeing a dangerous situation at his home and was outside the home on Saturday because a relative lived there. 

“I was trying to save my son. I was trying to protect my son,” McClaine said. “I was having a struggle myself, and I felt like he was being manipulated. I didn’t feel like (he was) being treated right either and he was trying to be accepted and was trying to be loved.” 

Hobbs was charged with assault last month after an incident with a relative at the same home on NW 33rd St. where Hobbs “occasionally stays,” according to the probable cause affidavit. 

In the April incident, police reported Hobbs threatened to kill the relative and another person in the home while holding a knife. 

While the police investigation into the shooting unfolds, McClaine mourns the loss of her son, who she said, “had goodness in his heart.” 

“(I) trust that God’s got him in his arms and that he’s OK,” she said.