Suspect Turns Himself In Following Deadly Taft Shooting

A deadly shooting put an end to Memorial Day events in Taft over the weekend.

Monday, May 30th 2022, 8:18 am

By: Jordan Ryan

TAFT, Oklahoma -

A deadly shooting put an end to Memorial Day events in Taft over the weekend.

The suspect of the shooting is accused of killing one person and injuring multiple others after opening fire around midnight Sunday at a Memorial Day festival in Taft.

According to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, the 26-year-old suspect Skyler Buckner is in custody after turning himself in to the Muskogee County Sheriff's office Sunday afternoon.

Investigators found four types of casings at the scene. They say more than 40 shots were fired in the crowd full of people.

Investigators also say eight victims were taken to the hospital.

The victim's range in age from 9 to 56 years old and the woman who died was 39.

We now know the seven others have non-life-threatening injuries.

A witness spoke of the terrifying moments when the gunshots were fired.

“We literally thought we were going to die. We dropped on the ground, we literally laid on the ground there right in the middle where the shooting was happening," said the witness.

The shooting occurred at an annual Memorial Day event with 1,500 people in attendance.

The festival took place at the Old City Square.

Jordan Ryan

Before joining us here in Oklahoma City, Jordan Ryan was in Huntsville, Alabama at WHNT News 19. While in Huntsville, also known as the Rocket City because of NASA's presence in the community and the large aerospace industry.