OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – At 1:15 a.m. Thursday morning, police were called to a shooting near 1800 S.E. 22nd.
Police say 42-year-old Daniel Hardwick was trying to break into a business owned by 33-year-old Larue Bratcher, when Bratcher shot and killed Hardwick.
“He was trying to break in when the business owner, who was inside the business at the time, apparently opened fire with a handgun, striking and killing the man who was breaking in,” Msgt. Gary Knight with the Oklahoma City Police Department said.
After police arrived on scene, they discovered the business was a marijuana grow.
Officers contacted the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority and OBN to make sure everything was legal, but Bratcher did not have a license to grow marijuana, which is a felony.
“It was about 480 plants, which comes out to approximately $1,500,000 of marijuana,” Knight told News 4. “Ultimately, he ended up being booked in to the Oklahoma County Jail on unlawful cultivation of marijuana.”
Bratcher’s bond is set at $5,000, but his only charge is growing marijuana without a license. As of right now, he is not in jail for killing Hardwick.
“He was not booked in on any charges related to the shooting. We will present that case to the district attorney’s office. Ultimately they will make the determination on what charges, if any, are appropriate in this case,” Knight said.
