OKLAHOMA CITY – Hazmat crews were on the scene of an illegal pill mill bust in the northwest side. It happened around 1:30 a.m. on Friday at a business near Britton Road and Broadway Extension.
“Investigators went out to determine if this was a place where pills or illegal drugs were being manufactured, put into pill form and then distributed,” said MSgt. Gary Knight with the Oklahoma City Police Department.
That’s exactly what investigators found when they served a warrant to the 300 block of W Britton.
News 4 has spoken with the property owner who tells us the building was rented out to Tammie Beal for a recording studio.
“We called other agencies out because there were chemicals in there and we weren’t quite sure what we were dealing with. They were wearing hazmat suits, and we wanted to make sure everybody was safe,” Knight said.
Turns out, officers were led to the business after receiving information at a shooting on Halloween night. Around 11 p.m., officers responded to Farmer’s Insurance near Rockwell and Memorial where a man had pulled over after being shot while driving near Northwest Expressway and Rockwell.
“That incident led officers to these locations. So, it started out with a shooting, and then it evolved into a bigger investigation,” Knight said.
The shooting victim’s wife, Tammie Beal, was Facetiming with her husband, according to a police report, when he was shot. After officers spoke with her, she was arrested for several drug charges including possession of hydrocodone with the intent to distribute.
Then, Friday morning, when officers served search warrants at a home on NW 129th and her rental on W Britton Rd, Beal was cited for possession of marijuana and for having a firearm. As far as her involvement in what was discovered at the recording studio, that question remains unanswered.
“The investigation is ongoing. We did identify several people in the investigation that we want to interview that we believe may be involved,” Knight said.