Shots Fired Between Suspect And U.S. Marshals In Tahlequah; OHP Investigating

The Oklahoma Highway Patrol is investigating after shots were fired between a suspect and U.S. Marshals in Tahlequah Thursday.

U.S. Marshals say they were serving an arrest warrant at the home at Lee and Choctaw and no members of law enforcement were hurt.

It all happened at the same time that Jonathan Rader was about to open his store across the street, Rader Computers, for the day.

“I was in the back and it was like right at 10,” said Rader. “I heard a duh duh duh, kind of like a knock, I really thought it was just somebody knocking at the door. Because there will be a lot of times where somebody comes right at 10.”

But he knew something wasn’t right.

“It sounded a little bit different,” said Rader. “Like it almost sounded louder but more distant, maybe? So I thought maybe somebody was knocking on the neighbor's door or something. So I came out from the back, and looked around, and didn’t see anybody at the door.”

Rader says when he went to the window, he realized quickly that it wasn’t knocking, but gunshots.

“I just was standing here looking out the windows seeing what was going on, and several more cars came up,” said Rader. “Basically the whole thing was just covered in police cars. And there were several people, I guess they were U.S. Marshals is what I’ve heard, but they had the bulletproof vests on.”

He says once his brain processed what had happened, it was over.

He says he’s thankful for law enforcement’s quick action and for keeping people safe.

“If I would have known it was gunfire initially, I probably would have been more scared,” said Rader. “But by the time I knew what was happening, it was already in and out of it. The cops had it pretty much surrounded.”

News On 6 is working to learn more details from law enforcement about what happened before shots were fired.