Oklahoma officers in shooting that hurt children named
{{#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)
Authorities in Oklahoma on Friday identified two police officers present when at least one of them shot into a pickup truck last week and wounded three children and a man suspected in a robbery.
Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation spokeswoman Brook Arbeitman confirmed that Hugo police detectives Billy Jenkins and Chad Allen were placed on paid leave after the April 26 shooting that hurt 21-year-old William Devaughn Smith and the children, ages 5, 4 and 1. All have been released from the hospital.
Smith is suspected in an April 11 armed robbery of a Pizza Hut in Hugo, about 180 miles (290 kilometers) southeast of Oklahoma City and near the Texas state line. He is being held in the Choctaw County Jail on a pending robbery charge.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}OSBI says Smith and the children were in a truck outside a Hugo community center that serves food when police fired. It's unclear whether Smith had a gun.
Local police have not said how they connected Smith to the restaurant robbery. Calls to the Hugo Police Department went unanswered Friday, and the department Facebook page was no longer available.
Residents and others have demonstrated in Hugo as they await more information. State Rep. Justin Humphrey, whose district includes Hugo, said he has met with community leaders is pushing authorities to be open about the investigation.