Investigation continues in lakeside restaurant shooting
Passer-by kills shooter outside Louie’s Grill and Bar
Oklahoma City police were working late Thursday to piece together what happened when a man shot people at a popular Lake Hefner restaurant, hitting at least two people and ending with the shooter dead by the hand of a passerby.
Police were called to Louie's Grill and Bar, 9401 Lake Hefner, at about 6:30 p.m. Capt. Bo Mathews said police were looking for information about the shooter and would not identify victims or the shooter Thursday night. The shooter was pronounced dead at the scene.
Dennis Will told a local television station that his daughter and granddaughter had been shot. He said they were at the restaurant for a birthday party for
another granddaughter.
He said he would like to thank the passer-by who killed the shooter.
"I'm feeling good they're both alive," he said.
First Christian ChurchHennessey requested prayers for Will's family in a Facebook post Thursday night. It identified the victims as Natalie and Niah Will.
Briana Jones, spokeswoman for OU Medical Center, said the hospital had three patients from the shooting. She said their conditions were fair, good and undetermined.
Jones said the child who was shot was still in surgery as of about 10 p.m.
She did not release names or further information.
Mathews said one person fleeing the scene suffered a broken arm.
In addition to Oklahoma City police, Oklahoma Highway Patrol troopers were working the area to keep motorists away from the active crime scene.
Ron Benton, 54, a WWLS radio host of Oklahoma City was about to watch the NBA basketball game Thursday night at the bar when he heard gunfire in the restaurant, but he didn’t see who had been shot.
He said he ran outside with others and saw a sport utility vehicle pull up in the parking lot. Then one man got a gun out of it, he said. Then he saw the gunman approach wearing protective earphones and glasses and holding a gun.
“I spotted the shooter walking along the sidewalk in the trees and I pointed saying, ‘He’s there! He’s there!' ” Benton said.
“He kind of stopped walking and was kind of pacing around and they are screaming, ’Put it down!’ He (the gunman) must have made a move because shots were being fired and I got down,” Benton said.
In the shooting's aftermath, police staged a family reunification area at the Lighthouse Center at 3333 W Hefner Road.
At the Lighthouse, Debbie Doggett, said her daughterin-law, Haley Doggett, 30, was inside Louie’s and witnessed the shooting.
More than two hours after the shooting, she had not been able to leave the scene and was waiting to be interviewed by police.
“My son was pretty upset. She (Haley) was able to borrow a cellphone to call me after it happened and said she was alright,” Debbie Doggett said.
At the Lighthouse, Morin Abioye, 15, and her mother, Funmi Abioye, were waiting to find out how to reach their family friend, Imagene Veasey, 17, who was working as a hostess at Louie’s at the time of the shooting. The Abioyes said they have not been able to contact Veasey.
“This is so scary because you don’t know exactly what is going on with her. I just hope she is fine,” Funmi Abioye said. “We can’t find out anything.”