Family of man shot by police questions shooting

The family of a suicidal man shot and killed by Oklahoma City police this week is considering seeking legal representation.

Dustin Pigeon, 29, died about 2:40 a.m. Wednesday after being shot by an Oklahoma City police offi- cer. The shooting came minutes after Pigeon called 911 and told a dispatcher he planned to kill himself.

“We are questioning why my brother was shot when he is the one who called police,” said Tesina Pigeon Halbert, Dustin Pigeon’s sister.

When police approached Pigeon in a courtyard at the Parkview Village homes in south Oklahoma City, Pigeon poured lighter fluid on himself and attempted to light a lighter.

When Pigeon ignored commands to lie on the ground, officer Troy Nitzky shot him with a bean bag shotgun. When that wasn’t effective, Sgt. Keith Sweeney, a nine-year veteran of the department, fired sev- eral rounds from his gun, striking Pigeon and killing him.

Police said Wednesday that Pigeon presented a danger to officers and others because he could have doused another person with lighter fluid and then ignited it.

Halbert, 34, of Las Cruces, New Mexico, said her brother had been taken to mental health facilities in the past and admitted for anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder.

He was also bipolar and had a drinking problem that intensified his depression, she said. Pigeon had tried to overdose on medication and cut himself in the past, she said.

Halbert said her father, Boston Pigeon, plans to view body camera video of the shooting.

“I have no understanding of this,” Halbert said. “Why did they shoot my brother?”

Halbert said the family, who is of Muscogee (Creek) descent, is planning a Native American funeral Monday at Faith Baptist Church in Dustin, a small community in Hughes County.