Muskogee (US): Police in eastern Oklahoma shot and killed a 17-year-old girl, and a boy of the same age died of a self-inflicted gunshot following a short chase, police said Monday. Muskogee Police said in a press release that officers were initially called Sunday afternoon to a report of an attempted carjacking and then a report of a stolen truck. After spotting the stolen truck, a short chase ensued until the vehicle crashed, police said.
The two suspects then fled the vehicle and exchanged gunfire with police, according to the release.
Police have not released the teens’ names while they attempt to locate their next of kin, but said they’re believed to be runaways from Nebraska. Police said the girl was shot and killed a few blocks from where the vehicle crashed. The boy was located by a drone in a heavily wooded area nearby. As officers approached, they said he shot himself.
Four officers have been placed on routine administrative leave while the shooting is being investigated. Their names have not been released. Police said one officer suffered a hand injury after falling during the foot chase and was treated at a hospital and released. Muskogee police said their office is investigating the shooting.
In a separate incident in Arkansas a 15-year-old boy shot and killed a fellow student at a junior high school Monday morning. The accused he has been detained in a juvenile detention facility, authorities said.
The shooting happened in a hallway at Watson Chapel Junior High School as students were switching classes at about 10.00am (local time), Pine Bluff police chief Kelvin Sergeant said.
The school went on lockdown after the shooting. The shooter ran away but was found in a nearby neighbourhood by a tracking dog, a police official said.
The wounded boy, who was also 15, was airlifted to a Little Rock hospital where he later died. “We don’t have a definite motive right now as to why the incident occurred,” Sergeant said. “However we do believe this was a targeted incident as opposed to a random incident,” he added.