GRADY COUNTY, Okla. — A traffic violation turns deadly for a Grady County dog.
It started with a car improperly parked outside a home in Chickasha, but inside that home was a wanted man who wouldn’t be taken away without a fight.
“First thing I thought was, oh god, I gotta check on my family,” said neighbor Bobby Nunn, after she heard the gunfire.
Police say it was Wednesday night, when an officer found a parked car facing the wrong way on W. Washington Ave.
“[He]noticed a black male up in the yard looking at him, very suspiciously,” said Shanon McClain, Interim Chief for the Chickasha Police Department.
The man then quickly ducked inside the home, as another woman stepped out…who explained the man’s first name was Courtney.
“Some of the other officers were familiar with the suspect.”
It soon became clear the man’s full name is Courtney Parker, and he’s familiar with law enforcement in multiple counties.
He was most recently charged back in December, in Oklahoma County with: domestic assault, domestic abuse by strangulation, and kidnapping.
An arrest warrant was issued for Parker in January.
“The suspect attempted to shove the officer, and retreat toward the back of the house,” explained McClain.
Somewhere in the scuffle, Parker’s dog got involved.
“There was a pit bull in the backyard,” said McClain. “The dog lunged at one of the officers…and when the dog lunged at him, he did fire a shot at the dog.”
“We heard a lady screaming ‘why’d you shoot him, why’d you shoot him?,” said John Smallwood, who lives nearby. “They didn’t need to do that to that dog, man.”
Parker was eventually arrested and booked into the Grady County Jail, where he was informed his dog was killed.
Police say he became violent, and threatened to retaliate in the future.
According to a police report, Parker told an officer:
“He was going to assault me when he had a chance. He also said he was going to wait to get other officers by themselves and assault them.”
Parker now faces several charges in Grady County, including assault and battery on a police officer.
It’s unknown at this time if he’ll be extradited back to Oklahoma County for the original felony warrant.
