OKC man killed by police was ministry volunteer

Staff Writer rmedley@oklahoman.com

Early in the week, the Rev. Richard Hill pulled a white van down the gravel driveway of a southeast Oklahoma City home and turned left onto Barton Drive.

He drove to a convenience store about half a mile to the west, where he parked the van, climbed out and looked at the red block lettering that reads “RIC CHURCH.”

By Thursday, the van would hold the body of a woman who had been shot to death.

The woman, identified Friday as 51-yearold Jennifer Young, was the wife of Bill Young, 56, who was shot and killed early Thursday by an Oklahoma City police officer.

Police think Bill Young not only shot and killed his wife but also shot and wounded her daughter, Rebecca Johnson, 29.

The van is owned by Restoration in Christ, a small church with members in Dallas and the Oklahoma City area that ministers to people who have had troubled pasts, Hill said.

Bill Young had been a volunteer for the church for a number of years.

Hill said he arrived Thursday from Dallas to pick up the van, which Bill Young had borrowed. He hadn’t talked much with Bill Young recently, but said he worked at a body shop in southwest Oklahoma City and had helped the small ministry reach out to people who had criminal pasts and other troubles.

Hill didn’t know much about what led up to Thursday’s violence. News of the incident left him stunned, he said.

“All I can say is it was such a waste all around,” he said.

About 2:45 a.m. Thursday, Oklahoma City police officer Brandon McDonald went to the home at 15001 Barton Drive to investigate a “trouble unknown” call.

When he arrived, Bill Young fired shots at him. McDonald returned fire, fatally striking Young.

After the shooting, officers found Jennifer Young’s body in the van, which was parked at the home.

Johnson, who was found wounded at the home, told police Bill Young had shot her. She was taken to a hospital for treatment of a gunshot injury, police reported.

Young’s brother, Robert D. Young, 55, was arrested in connection with the incident, on complaints of murder and kidnapping, police said. He was being held without bail in the Oklahoma County jail.

Details about Robert Young’s alleged involvement weren’t available Friday.