Six days after a deadly hostage situation inside the Oklahoma County Detention Center, Oklahoma City Police released surveillance and body cam video of the events that happened inside
“We had to wait until the officers were interviewed. They were interviewed Wednesday afternoon (and) we started putting the presentation together,” Oklahoma City Police Chief Wade Gourley said. “The information is still very sparatic and we’re still working to gather all of that and put it together. The presentation was put together late yesterday afternoon and that’s why we couldn’t do this until this morning.”
During a news conference, police broke down a timeline of events starting with when the first inmate, Curtis Williams, got out of his cell at 4 p.m.
“At 4:17 p.m., the suspect, the inmate who was able to free himself from his cell, uses OC Spray taken from the detention officer to assault him,” Gourley said
At 4:22 p.m. dispatch informed OKCPD of the incident.
“Oklahoma city police department. I need them here,” said an employee that called 911. “They got the officers hostage. They have keys. They are opening all the doors.”
“Several of our teams were involved in this. The Violent Crimes Apprehension Team, which does include members of our tactical unit and the patrol had a response as well,” Gourley said.
At 5 p.m. Gourley said officers were able to enter onto the floor.
“We can’t sit there and watch him be brutalized anymore or possibly killed,” Gourley said.
He said at that time, inmates knew the officers were coming and some started to scatter.
“We’re showing you this so you can see how out of control things are in the pod. Multiple inmates were able to free themselves,” Gourley said.
Body cam footage was released Friday showing officers enter the pod where Williams was standing at the top of the stairwell with officer, Daniel Misquez, in front of him.
“Seconds later, Oklahoma City Police shoot the suspect. The victim falls down the stairs. The officers grab him and take him to safety,” Gourley said.
Gourley said Williams was shot twice.
Following the shooting, the inmates were still free and a possible threat.
“At approximately 6 p.m., officers and deputies enter the pod to extract the suspect,” Gourley said.
Gourley said at the time of the incident, 37 inmates were being housed on the 10th floor. It’s still under investigation as to how many were involved in the hostage situation.
Gourley said charges will be filed against those that were involved. The District Attorney will determine what those charges will be, Gourley said.
This incident is one of many that have happened inside the county jail over the past few months.
The Oklahoma County Criminal Justice Authority took over the jail for the Sheriff’s Office last July.
