By Patti Weaver
CUSHING — A rural Cushing man “had a lever action rifle on the right side by his body, a pistol on his hip, and a flashlight in his left hand,” when he was fatally shot early Friday morning near his residence on E. 790 Road after firing at an Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper, according to Lincoln County Sheriff Kevin Garrett.
“People were in his house. It’s really sad he lost his life,” the sheriff said.
Curtis Russell, 44, who lived about five miles southwest of Cushing in Lincoln County, was driving a 2003 blue Toyota 4-Runner during a traffic stop in Cushing at 1:34 am Friday when he refused to hand his driver’s license to a Cushing police officer but told him his name, the sheriff said.
After the Cushing police officer saw a gun by his leg, “Curtis took off” and the pursuit began, the Lincoln County sheriff said.
“At 1:54 am a Lincoln County deputy goes to the address of his house on a county road to see if the vehicle is there. The deputy pulls in the driveway; the subject exits his house with a rifle in his hand. He’s pointing the weapon and yelling at the deputy, cussing him. He fired several rounds. The deputy could hear the bullets. The deputy pulls out at 2 am,” to seek backup, the sheriff said.
At least 15 officers responded to the scene: “Cushing Police Department, the Payne County Sheriff’s Office, the Sac and Fox Police Department, Wellston Police, Chandler Police, the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office and the Oklahoma Highway Patrol,” the sheriff said.
“The trooper and a Payne County deputy were on the west side. The others were on the east side where there are multiple houses. We had a drone come up, so no one was ambushed.
“He started shooting at the trooper — the trooper returned fire. He hit the trooper’s car. The trooper was on the county road behind his unit using it for cover.
“No law enforcement was hurt. The OHP shooting unit worked it,” the sheriff said.
Russell died at the scene where emergency medical service from Stroud had responded, the sheriff said.
The trooper has been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation, the OHP said.
According to the state Department of Corrections, Russell had been convicted of drug possession in Kingfisher County in 2008 and place on probation for five years.
