Latest News Headlines

Police kill man who took girl at Oklahoma store

June 18, 2013

MIDWEST CITY, Okla. (AP) — Authorities say a police officer shot and killed a man who'd taken a toddler hostage at a Walmart Market in suburban Oklahoma City.

Midwest City Police Assistant Chief Sid Porter says the child wasn't harmed in the incident Monday afternoon. Police say Sammie Lamont Wallace took the 2-year-old girl out of her mother's shopping cart and held a knife to the child. Porter says the store was evacuated within minutes and police began negotiating with Wallace.

Porter says an officer opened fire after Wallace began "counting down" on the girl's life.

NTSB: Poor eyesight probable cause of Okla. Crash

June 18, 2013

TULSA, Okla. (AP) — The driver of one of two freight trains that collided in the Oklahoma Panhandle last year, killing three railroad workers, had complained that he couldn't distinguish between red and green signals, an investigator told the National Transportation Safety Board on Tuesday.

Dr. Mary Pat McKay was among several investigators presenting evidence to an NTSB panel in Washington charged with determining the cause of the June 24, 2012, crash near Goodwell.

July hearing set for teen charged in Duncan death

June 14, 2013

DUNCAN,(AP) — A 16-year-old boy charged with first-degree murder in the stabbing death of a Duncan girl is being held without bond after his first court appearance.

The teenager appeared in Stephens County District Court on Thursday after he was charged with first-degree murder in the death of 14-year-old Alyssa Wiles. Court records show that court hearings were set for July 19 and July 31 in the case.

Police say Alyssa's father found her dead Monday at their home. Authorities say she was stabbed with a kitchen knife.

May 31 Oklahoma storms death toll rises to 22

June 13, 2013

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The Oklahoma medical examiner's office has confirmed a 22nd fatality from the May 31 tornadoes and flash floods after a girl's body was recovered from the Oklahoma River.

The office said Thursday the cause of the girl's death has not been determined.

Oklahoma City Fire Department Deputy Chief Marc Woodard says the girl's body was recovered Wednesday in Oklahoma City, about two miles from where she and her family sheltered from the tornado in a storm drain. Woodard says she hasn't been formally identified.

Separate accidents claim the lives of two county men

June 13, 2013

Two men were killed Wednesday afternoon in separate motorcycle accidents that occurred at about the same time. One accident was south of Hodgen and the other in Poteau.
A Heavener man was killed in a motorcycle accident Wednesday afternoon when another vehicle struck him.
Rick Ford, 56, of Heavener, was driving a 2007 Yamaha Motorcycle north on U.S. Highway 59 near Stapp Zoe at about 5:15 p.m. when the accident occurred.

Oklahoma inmate extradited to face murder charge

June 12, 2013

MILFORD, Conn. (AP) — A 53-year-old man serving time in a federal prison in Oklahoma has been extradited to Connecticut to face murder charges.

The New Haven Register reports Luis Rodriguez was presented in Superior Court Wednesday morning, charged in the May, 2001 strangulation of 28-year-old Kelsey Monahon.

Monahan, who was one month pregnant, was found bound, gagged and unconscious by her husband in their Milford apartment on May 25, 2001.

She died three days later at Bridgeport Hospital.

Spiro teen drowns in Mulberry

June 11, 2013

A Spiro teen who went missing Monday evening at Bluff Hole Park in Mulberry has been found dead.
Timothy Thompson, 19, of Spiro was swimming with three friends at the park when his friends said they noticed Thompson was having trouble swimming, according to wire reports.
A search for Thompson began Monday at about 6 p.m. but dive teams were unable to locate him before it became dark so the search was called off until dive teams could see. Wire reports say Thompson's family and friends continued the search overnight until the divers returned to the water Tuesday morning.