A man died after a shooting at an east Tulsa motel Saturday.
Police responded to the call around noon after a report of a possible shooting near a motel, police said.
After arriving at the Knight's Inn on Garnett, police said they learned that security guard Christopher Straight, 53, shot the victim.
Authorities say they found evidence from the scene and learned the two were in a fight before a gun was drawn, police said.
Police say Straight started an argument that led to the fight -- eventually using pepper spray to protect himself.
Investigators say that had he not started the altercation, he may not have needed to act in self-defense -- that's why he is facing criminal charges. Since he was acting in self-defense when he shot the other man, he's facing manslaughter instead of murder.
A spokesperson for the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office said Straight was a former detention officer, but did not provide additional information.
After taking a look into public records, we found the following information about Straight's involvement with the sheriff's office:
-He was a detention supervisor with the private company who oversaw the jail until 2005. When the sheriff's office took back over in 2005, they kept most of the same employees. Straight was one of the employees that remained and kept his rank of detention supervisor for TCSO.
-He was investigated or reprimanded multiple times in his career with the sheriff's office from July 2005 to August 2018 although specifics of the investigations including the infractions are not able to be released.
-Sept 1. 2005- Demoted from Detention Supervisor to rank of Detention Officer after being on admin leave during an investigation. "Any further violations of this nature may result in more severe punishment including termination," according to the memo.
-Feb 16-March 7, 2011 - Put on admin leave during investigation for "violations of TCSO Policy & Procedures". No action was taken.
-September 3, 2013- notified of a 5 day suspension without pay and mandatory supervisory training. In the memo to Straight it says "your behavior as an officer has compromised the professionalism of the Sheriff's Office and will not be tolerated again for any reason."
-August 13th, 2018 - After re-promoting to rank of Detention Supervisor, board recommended Straight to be demoted to rank of detention officer again.
-August 13th, 2018 - sends in resignation with intent to retire saying he had been "placed in a no win situation with administration running the jail". He also said "I am sorry I couldn't live up to the expectations of this management"
-According to Straight's Facebook page he now worked for a company called Response Protection, LLC. He posted about it on March 10th.
Straight was released on $50,000 bond Saturday night.
This is Tulsa's 31st homicide of the year.
{{file|t=CMUi2_1592610346}}
↧