OSBI to investigate cop-involved shooting

Details

Published on Wednesday, 27 June 2012 12:59

The Clinton chief of police has requested assistance from the Oklahoma Bureau of Investigation for a police-involved shooting that occurred outside the Clinton Police Department just after midnight. 

Before the shooting, family members of Benjamin Whiteshield, 34, drove Whiteshield to the Clinton Police Department because he was acting delusional. 

According to the OSBI, they had already attempted to take him to a nearby hospital. At the police department, Whiteshield left his relatives’ vehicle armed with a large crescent wrench. 

With information from Whiteshield’s relatives about his mental state, officers searched the area for Whiteshield. During that search, Whiteshield confronted an officer with wrench in hand on the north side of the police department. The officer fired his weapon one time, striking Whiteshield in the mouth. 

Whiteshield then ran inside the lobby of the police department. Officers tried several times to subdue him to allow emergency medical technicians to apply treatment. After several attempts, officers and EMTs were able to subdue the subject and load him onto an ambulance. 

Whiteshield was pronounced dead at the hospital in Clinton. 

The officer who fired his weapon is on routine paid administrative leave while the OSBI investigates the shooting. Once the investigation is complete, agents will give the report to the district attorney. The district attorney will determine if the shooting was justified. 

Whiteshield’s last known address was in Thomas. The medical examiner’s office will perform an autopsy, which will include toxicology tests.