Oklahoma City Cop Kills Pipe-Wielding Man, Didn't Hear Screams He Was Deaf: Police

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK — Oklahoma City police shot a deaf man wielding a metal pipe after he approached officers, a department official said Wednesday, and the officers themselves apparently didn't hear bystanders yelling that the man couldn't hear.

Magdiel Sanchez, 35, didn't follow officers' commands before one shot him with a gun and the other with a stun gun Tuesday night, Capt. Bo Mathews said at a news conference. Witnesses screamed "he can't hear you" before the officers fired, but the officers didn't hear them, he said.

Sanchez died at the scene. The officer who fired the gun, Sgt. Chris Barnes, was placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of an investigation. (For more information on the police shooting and other Oklahoma City stories, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

The officers were investigating a reported hit-and-run at around 8:15 p.m. Tuesday, Mathews said. A witness told Lt. Matthew Lindsey the address where the vehicle responsible for the hit-and-run had left, he said, and Sanchez was on the porch when Lindsey arrived.

Sanchez was holding a metal pipe roughly two feet in length, he said. It had a leather loop on one end for wrapping around one's wrist. Lindsey called for backup and Barnes arrived, at which point Sanchez left the porch and began to approach the officers, Mathews said.

Witnesses could hear the officers giving Sanchez commands, but the officers didn't hear the witnesses yelling that Sanchez couldn't hear them, Mathews said. When he was about 15 feet away from the officers, they opened fire — Lindsey with his Taser and Barnes with his gun.

When asked why Barnes used a gun instead of a stun gun, Mathews said he didn't know. He said it's possible Barnes wasn't equipped with a Taser. Neither officer had a body camera.

Sanchez's father, who was driving the hit-and-run vehicle, confirmed after the shooting that his son was deaf, Mathews said. He said Sanchez wasn't in the vehicle when his father struck something and drove off. It wasn't a person that he struck.

Neighbor Jolie Guebara told the Associated Press on Wednesday that Sanchez, whose name she didn't know, used notes to communicate with her and her husband. She said he often carried a stick to ward off stray dogs when he walked at night.

Police initially said Sanchez was carrying a stick, but Mathews described it Wednesday as a metal pipe.

By KEN MILLER, Associated Press

Photo credit: Sue Ogrocki/Associated Press