Oklahoma mom says three children hit by police during shootout
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In this Friday, April 26, 2019 image made from video provided by KTEN, investigators inspect a pickup truck with bullet holes in its windshield in Hugo, Okla. Olivia Hill says Oklahoma police fired at William Devaughn Smith in the vehicle with her and her four children, with two of her kids suffering head wounds and another shot in the face. ((KTEN via AP))
An Oklahoma mother is fearing for her children’s lives after a police shootout caused left three of her four children with injuries.
Olivia Hill and her four children were in a pickup truck driven by William Devaughn Smith, 21, who police in Hugo pegged as a suspect in an April 11 armed robbery of a Pizza Hut.
According to KXII-TV, officers approached Smith near the Texas state line on Friday and a shootout ensued.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI) said the incident started after Smith allegedly hit a Hugo police officer with his vehicle while trying to get away.
A second deputy reportedly was nearly hit by the truck and fired shots in fear for his safety.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"As they tried to approach the suspect, there was an incident that happened. An officer-involved shooting took place," said OSBI spokeswoman Jenny Virden told KXII-TV.
The OSBI said Smith is in custody, two officers had minor injuries and the three innocent children were hospitalized.
The hospital where the children are being treated didn't release their condition, but Hill says her 2-year-old child was not hurt. The other three, she said, were not as lucky.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“My 4-year-old daughter was shot in the head, and she has a bullet in her brain, and my 5-year-old has a skull fracture,” Hill told news station KXII-TV. “My 1-year-old baby has gunshot wounds on her face.”
Virden was unable to confirm whether officers knew the kids were inside the truck when they started shooting.
"Of course we're still talking to witnesses, doing interviews and we're still trying to find out exactly what happened," she said.
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Hugo police say Smith was shot in the incident and was treated and released to police custody from a Paris hospital.
Hugo police said on their Facebook page that Smith allegedly entered the back entrance of the restaurant, pressed an object to an employee’s back and demanded money. Police said the worker handed over money and the robber left.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Smith hasn’t been formally charged yet in the shooting or Pizza Hut robbery, but police told KXII-TV he's in custody and faces a first-degree felony charge of aggravated robbery.