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2 Oklahoma cops shot, suspect taken into custody after manhunt

Both officers were hospitalized in critical condition

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Tulsa police gather where two officers were shot near 21st Street and Memorial Drive in Tulsa, Okla., on Monday, June 29, 2020.

Matt Barnard/Tulsa World via AP

Associated Press

TULSA, Okla. — Two police officers in Tulsa, Oklahoma, were shot and critically wounded on the city’s east side Monday morning and police arrested the suspected gunman following a more than seven-hour search, authorities said.

David Anthony Ware, 32, was arrested about 10:45 a.m., said Capt. Richard Meulenberg.

Police had been searching for Ware since about 3:30 a.m. after he allegedly shot two officers during a traffic stop. The officers — Sgt. Craig Johnson and rookie officer Aurash Zarkeshan — remained in critical condition Monday afternoon and were “fighting for their lives,” said Police Chief Wendell Franklin.

Zarkeshan had been on patrol for less than six weeks after graduating from the police academy in the spring, Franklin said.

The two officers were attempting to remove Ware from the vehicle, and one officer had already deployed a Taser and pepper spray in an attempt to get him out.

“When they were able to get the driver out of the vehicle, the driver produced a handgun and fired multiple rounds,” Franklin said.

A motive for the shooting was unclear and Ware had no known bias toward police, Meulenberg said.

“He clearly did not want to be arrested,” Meulenberg said.

After the officers were shot, Ware walked away from the scene and was picked up by an “accomplice” who had arrived in a separate vehicle, Franklin said. That man, Matthew Hall, was arrested later in Broken Arrow, Franklin said.

“He got on the phone and called that individual while he was being stopped,” he said.

Ware has been charged with two counts of shooting with intent to kill and illegal possession of a firearm, court records show. They didn’t list an attorney who could speak on Ware’s behalf.

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