Police Lieutenant Indicted For Murder For Shooting Active Shooter
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Source: KFOR NEWS
"KAY COUNTY, Okla. (KFOR) – On Thursday, Blackwell police officer Lt. John Mitchell was indicted by a grand jury for his role in a May officer-involved shooting.
Monday at his bond hearing a Kay County Judge set his bond at $10,000 but allowed Mitchell to be released on his own recognizance.
Mitchell was then processed at the Kay County Detention Center and able to go home.
Around 3 a.m. May 20, Blackwell police received calls that shots were fired and a vehicle had been struck in the 1300 block of South Main.
When officers arrived at the scene, dispatch received another call about more reports of shots being fired from a white pickup truck at different locations around town.
Officers found the pickup and a pursuit began, “and shots were fired,” officials with the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation said.
The truck stopped near 13th and Doolin Avenue.
When officers approached the truck, they found 34-year-old Michael Ann Godsey deceased in the driver seat. Officials say she was the only passenger in the truck.
President of the Oklahoma Fraternal Order of Police, Jason Smith, says Mitchell has his full support.
“We look forward to this working through the justice system,” Smith told News 4. “We believe that when the facts of the case are brought out to the public, that LT. Mitchell will be put back to work where he needs to be.”
In the indictment, Stephens County District Attorney Jason Hicks says Mitchell shot and killed Michael Godsey “without justifiable or excusable cause” while “discharging approximately 60 rounds.”
Smith says he knows Mitchell well, and killing Godfrey was the last thing he wanted to do.
“He didn`t wake up that day with the content to take a human life,” Smith said. “It`s the worst thing that he could ever imagine having to do.”
Smith says he’s all for letting this play out in the justice system, and he believes Mitchell will be acquitted of all charges.
At the same time, he doesn’t like the way the indictment was handled.
“The six months in-between seems excessive to me. To make someone wait to find out if they are going to be cleared of this incident,” Smith said. “We just to make sure that law is applied to officers fairly, not unfairly.”
News 4 did reach out to District Attorney Jason Hicks, but he declined to comment.
Lt. Mitchell’s preliminary hearing is scheduled for December 18th at 2 p.m."