TECUMSEH HONORS FALLEN OFFICER
TECUMSEH — Standing among hundreds of American flags planted in the soil along Broadway Street, the people of Tecumseh paid their last respects to officer Justin Terney, who died Monday.
Some held hats over their hearts, while others saluted as a procession of law enforcement vehicles escorted the body of the fallen officer through the city on the way to his hometown of Canadian.
Terney, 22, was shot during an exchange of gunfire that followed a traffic stop late Sunday. He died the next morning, Tecumseh Assistant Police Chief J.R. Kidney said Monday outside OU Medical Center.
Terney stopped a vehicle driven by a woman about 11:30 p.m. Sunday at Benson Park and Gordon Cooper, Kidney said.
Terney radioed a dispatcher after stopping the vehicle, and the dispatcher found an outstanding warrant for the male passenger, Byron James Shepard, 35.
Once Shepard learned he had a warrant, he fled into a wooded area, and Terney gave chase. Terney used his Taser on Shepard with no effect. Shepard shot him, and Terney returned fire, Kidney told reporters.
The woman, who authorities have not identified, was taken into custody.
Terney suffered three gunshot wounds, and Shepard was shot four times, Kidney said. Information was not provided Monday about Shepard’s medical condition.
Terney’s patrol unit remained parked on the side of the road Monday afternoon, behind the older model white car he had pulled over the night before.
About a dozen law enforcement vehicles lined the block as agents with the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation assisted local police.
Shepard, who lives in Okemah, was charged in Okfuskee County District Court Feb. 22 with a count of knowingly concealing stolen property. He stole a pickup and equipment from an oil drilling company, according to court records.
Shepard has previously pleaded guilty to assault with a dangerous weapon, assault and battery, public intoxication, threatening to perform an act of violence, malicious injury to property, driving under suspension, escape from arrest and violating a protective order, court records show.
Terney new to force
Terney also worked as a volunteer firefighter and had a new puppy, a Malinois, that he hoped would be his future partner as a K-9 officer, friends and colleagues said.
“He was a very young officer who was just getting started in his career,” Kidney said.
Friend and fellow volunteer firefighter Dillon Degraffenreid, 21, said Terney was a constant source of humor, whether it was posting something funny to Facebook or cracking jokes in person.
“He always said if he can find himself an old lady to cook him no-bake cookies and make chocolate milk for him, he’d never have to find anyone else,” Degraffenreid said Monday.
Degraffenreid said Terney was a dedicated officer in a career he had long dreamed to begin.
“Talking to his dad today, while they were in the family room during surgery, he said he (Terney) chose law enforcement from a really young age,” Degraffenreid said.
“He had always shown a passion for wanting to be an officer.”
Degraffenreid said his friend talked about training his dog “and finding the next group of people who were driving through town with a load of dope or something.”
“He was always wanting to catch the drug guys, that was his thing.”
Degraffenreid, who is a paramedic, said Terney’s death weighed heavy on the community’s first responders, and morale will likely get worse before it gets better.
“It’s already hit pretty hard with everyone around here, and I don’t think it’s sunk in all the way,” he said.
“We went back for a debriefing earlier and pulled up to the station to see his truck sitting out front in his spot, and it kind of sinks in a little more.”
Only one other Tecumseh officer has died in the line of duty, City Manager Jimmy Stokes said.
Police Chief Grover C. Butler was killed in the line of duty in 1932. In 1985, the city built a new public safety building and named it for him.
Terney marked his first year on the force on March 14, Stokes said.
“One thing about Justin, he was always smiling,” Stokes said.
“I never knew if he was mad or not, because he always had a smile.”