Officers, members of community run in honor of fallen Tulsa sergeant
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – Officers from the Oklahoma City Police Department got together to honor a Tulsa Police Department officer who was shot and killed earlier this week.
Around 3:30 a.m. on Monday, two officers with the Tulsa Police Department pulled over a vehicle in the 8900 block of East 21st Street.
Investigators say the officers asked the driver, David Ware, to get out of his vehicle 12 times. When he refused, a taser was deployed.
When that didn’t work, officials say the officers attempted to spray Ware with pepper spray.
When Ware was out of the vehicle, authorities say Ware pulled out a gun and started firing at the officers.
“The bullets found their mark, struck the officers, and the officers were critically injured. The officers went down and the driver slowly walked away from the vehicle and got into a waiting vehicle that had arrived to the scene and drove away,” said Chief Wendell Franklin, with the Tulsa Police Department.
Sgt. Craig Johnson and Officer Aurash Zarkeshan were both shot multiple times and rushed to a nearby hospital in critical condition.
Ware was ultimately arrested several hours later in Broken Arrow. The man who was behind the wheel of the getaway car was also taken into custody.
Sadly, officials with the Tulsa Police Department announced that Johnson passed away from his injuries on Tuesday morning.
“Yesterday, he sustained multiple gunshot wounds, one of which was critical. He underwent surgery. Doctors and nurses attempted and tried everything that they could to save his life. Today, Sgt. Craig Johnson passed away,” said Chief Franklin on Tuesday.
He leaves behind his wife and two young boys.
Johnson joined the Tulsa Police Department in 2005 and was assigned to the Mingo Valley Division as a graveyard shift supervisor.
As an honor to Johnson, a few Oklahoma City police officers, and several other officers and civilians, got together to run one mile.
They started their run at the Oklahoma City Police Department’s headquarters and finished in front of the fallen office memorial.