Gary Don Cook Sr.
By Patti Weaver
(Stillwater, Okla.) — A Cushing man was sentenced Tuesday to seven and one-half years in prison for shooting two children with a BB gun — an 11-year-old hit in the head and a 14-year-old struck in the buttocks last summer.
Gary Don Cook Sr., 40, had accepted a plea bargain regarding his penalty, but still asked Associate District Judge Stephen Kistler to give him a lighter sentence Tuesday.
“I’ve been through a lot in my life. I’m asking for a little bit of mercy. I think seven and one-half years in prison is a little harsh,” Cook told the judge, who repeatedly asked him Tuesday if he wanted to stand on his guilty plea — which Cook said that he did.
His court-appointed defense attorney Virginia Banks explained to the judge, “He believes they were there to steal from him. He’s been in jail a year now.”
After the judge sentenced Cook in accordance with the defense plea agreement with the prosecution, he wished Cook well and gave him credit for the time he has been in jail.
Cook pleaded guilty Tuesday to two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, for which he was also ordered to pay $1,100 in fines and assessments along with court costs. Cook also pleaded guilty to an earlier charge of possessing marijuana and attempting to elude Cushing police in 2020, for which he was given concurrent one-year jail terms Tuesday.
The judge Tuesday also revoked seven and one-half years of Cook’s suspended sentence for unauthorized use of a vehicle in Cushing in 2011, to be served in prison concurrently.
In his latest case, Cook had been arrested by Cushing Police Officer David Smith at 8:05 pm on June 22, 2021, 40 minutes after he was sent to the 1100 block of E. Walnut Street “for a report of two juveniles that had been shot by a neighbor named Gary,” his affidavit said.
A woman “advised me her son and her son’s friend were shot with a BB gun by their neighbor who lived across the street. I ultimately observed injuries on the two juveniles, which appeared to be from a round projectile,” the Cushing officer wrote in his affidavit.
“One of the juveniles was shot in his left buttocks; the injury was already bruised and blood-filled. The other juvenile was shot in the back of the head; the injury appeared to be from a small round projectile as well and left a very distinct red mark on the juvenile’s head.
“One of the juveniles advised me they had gone to the neighbor’s house because they would often visit their friend, Gary. The juvenile advised they had knocked on the door and were greeted to come in verbally by Gary.
“The juveniles entered the residence and then advised a short time later, Gary had told one of the juveniles do you want the BB gun, the pellet gun or the 38. The juvenile advised he did not answer, and Gary picked up the BB gun — advising the juveniles they had three seconds to get out.
“As the juveniles were leaving the residence, Gary had shot one of the juveniles in the buttocks as he was leaving out of the door to the house, and as the juveniles had run back across the street to go back home, the other juvenile was shot in the back of the head.
“The juveniles advised Gary returned to his residence and with the BB gun before the officer’s arrival. I later interviewed each juvenile separately and their stories coincided,” the Cushing officer wrote in his affidavit.
When the officer talked to Cook, he told “a similar story claiming he was just joking with the kids and had no intention to hurt them,” the affidavit said.
“Gary ultimately advised he did pick up the BB gun, verified he asked the kids if they wanted the BB gun, pellet gun or the 38, and that he told the kids they had three seconds to get out. The juveniles described the BB gun as a rifle-style gun that he kept by the couch. Gary claimed he never fired the BB gun,” the affidavit said.
The legal guardians of the children told the officer they wanted to press charges, the affidavit said.
When Cushing police served a search warrant at Cook’s house that night, they “ultimately seized a rifle-style BB gun, a .38 special bullet, and a .45 caliber bullet,” the affidavit said.
Cook had been released from prison in March of 2019 after serving two years and two months of an eight-year sentence for drug possession in Chandler, court records and the state Department of Corrections show.
Cook’s criminal record dates back to 21 years ago when he was sent to the state prison’s Regimented Inmate Discipline (RID) boot camp program for second-degree burglary in Cushing in 2001, after which he was placed on probation for about five years, court records show.
The following year, Cook was convicted of second-degree burglary in Ripley in 2002, for which he was given a concurrent sentence to his Cushing case, court records show.
Cook was also convicted of larceny from a house in Cushing in 2004, for which he was given a seven-year prison term but paroled after two years and nine months, DOC records show. Cook was also convicted of second-degree burglary in Payne County in 2007, for which he was given a six-year prison term but served about two years.
Cook was also convicted of domestic abuse in 2013 in Payne County, for which he was given probation that was revoked to almost four years in prison in 2016, DOC records show.
