Tahlequah Police Release Footage Of Fatal Officer-Involved Shooting

Police say a fatal police shooting in Tahlequah happened just 60 seconds after officers got to the scene.

Friday, the department released body camera video of the shooting, as the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation investigates.

Tahlequah Police Chief Nate King said officers shot Dominic Rollice six times when he refused to put down a hammer in his ex-wife's garage.

8/13/2016 Related Story: Man Armed With Hammer Who Lunged At Tahlequah Police Shot, Killed

Two officers fired shots 52 seconds after they started talking to Rollice.

Lieutenant Brandon Vick, Officer Josh Girdner and Officer Chase Reed went to the Tahlequah home after getting a call from Rollice's ex-wife, Joy.

Dispatch: “Tahlequah police department.”
Caller: “Hey, can I get somebody to come over to my house? My ex-husband is in the garage. He will not leave. He's drunk and it's gonna get ugly real quick."

King said officers tried to pat down Rollice, but he refused and walked to a workbench in the garage.

"Mr. Rollice reached for a hammer and all three officers heard him say, 'One of us is going to die tonight,’" King said.

In the video, you can hear officers order Rollice to drop the hammer several times, but he refuses.

Then, Reed lets the other officers know he was going to use his Taser. Ten seconds later, Rollice appears ready to throw the hammer.

That's when police say Girdner and Vick fired five rounds in about one second, the same time the Taser went off. Girdner fired one more shot later.

Reed performed CPR for eight minutes. Rollice died at a hospital.

King said, "It brought tears to my eyes to see how Officer Reed stayed poised, stayed compassionate to a man who had just threatened to kill our officers, or basically made the threat that someone was going to die."

The three officers involved are on paid administrative leave while they undergo psychological evaluations and OSBI completes its investigation.

The police chief said the last fatal officer-involved shooting in Tahlequah was in June of last year. The one before that, he said, happened before he was born.