Wanted man has hit list
OKLAHOMA CITY — An Oklahomamanwhohasbeenontherunsince Sunday, wanted in a string of killings, shootings and carjackings, likely intends to attack several people linked to a sexual assault case against him, authorities said Wednesday.
Michael Dale Vance Jr. is wanted on multiple charges, including two counts of first-degree murder. He was last seen early Monday about 48 km from the Texas border in western Oklahoma — 266 km from where the manhuntbeganSundaynightinWellston.
Vance, 38, of Chandler, referenced some potential targets in videos he posted live on Facebook on Sunday, while on the run from police shortly before two of his relatives were found nearly decapitated at a mobile home in Luther, Oklahoma County Sheriff John Whetsel told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
“Just based upon his post there, it indicated he knew where he was going, but it doesn’t specifically name them as the object of his rage, but obviously they turned out to be,” said Whetsel. “That was a rage killing.”
Law enforcement is providing protection for people Vance may be targeting, Whetsel said.
In one of the videos posted to Facebook, Vance mentions the name of a woman and says she knew that “I would get my guns, and I would come ... and you’re so lucky this went down this way.”
Whetsel said some of Vance’s potential targets are connected to a case alleging Vance sexually assaulted a 15-year-old girl. Court records show Vance has a court hearing scheduled Nov. 7 in Lincoln Countyonafelonychargeofchildsexual abuse involving the girl.
Wellston Officer Jim Hampton, who was shot in the foot Sunday during a gunbattle with Vance, told Oklahoma City television station KOCO that he shot the suspect twice.
“He fell to the ground again, laid there for a few minutes, got back up. The firefight was on again,” Hampton said. “At one time, we was actually standing up facing each other, shooting at each other.”
Because there haven’t been any confirmed sightings of Vance since early Monday morning, Whetsel told the AP that Vance “could be anywhere from California to Mexico to Florida.”
“If he hasn’t received medical treatment for that gunshot wound, at the very least he’s looking at infection, so there’s a good possibility that he may be along the side of the road in some rural part of the state, dead.”
The FBI, which is co-ordinating the search for Vance, is being tightlipped so he isn’t tipped off to their efforts, spokesman Terry Weber said in a statement.
The search began Sunday night after Hampton and another police officer exchanged gunfire with Vance while responding to a report of shots fired in Wellston, 56 km northeast of Oklahoma City. The other officer was also hurt but is expected to recover. The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office said Vance fled in a patrol vehicle.
Vance is suspected of later shooting a woman and stealing her vehicle at a mobilehomeparknearWellston,then driving about 13 km to his relatives’ mobilehomeandkillingRobertEverett Wilkson, 55, and Valeri Kay Wilkson, 54, said Oklahoma County sheriff’s spokesman Mark Opgrande.
Vance also is suspected of shooting a man in the leg in an attempted carjackingearlyMondayataconvenience store in Sayre, about 48 km from the Texas border.