Bounty Hunters Investigated After Shootout With Suspect Leads To Standoff

A shootout between some alleged bounty hunters and a suspect led to a near four-hour standoff with police.

Officers were called to the home near SW 29th and Shawnee around 6:15 a.m. Tuesday, after several residents reported hearing gunshots. Once on the scene, three men who said they were bounty hunters told police they were trying to serve a warrant for 33-year-old Anthony Bruce, and that's when shots were exchanged both in front of and behind the house.

One of the stray bullets hit William Sneed's home.

“I heard some glass breaking and I got up and that's when I heard another series of gunshots and that's when I realized what was really happening,” said Sneed.

That's when he went to check on his 14-year-old daughter.

“I was like, ‘Get under your bed,'” he told her.

When neighbors called police, Bruce barricaded himself inside the house he was staying in.

10/28/2014 Related Story: One Arrested Following Police Standoff In SW OKC

Claudia Lazano, who lives in another house across the street, said officers told her to stay in her home.

“It was kind of scary. We didn't know exactly what was going to go on,” she said.

Police tried to make contact with Bruce for over three hours. Bruce eventually surrendered just before 11 a.m.

“They got the bad guy,” Lazano's 4-year-old son said.

But the alleged bounty hunters were also taken in for questioning.

“We're currently continuing the investigation to determine the legitimacy of the bail bondsmen and the legalities of them being here and being able to do this,” said Oklahoma City Police Capt. Dexter Nelson.

Nelson told News 9 bounty hunters need to notify them before going to pick up a suspect and in this case they did not do that. Police are also investigating who fired the first shots.

William says the bullet holes go right through his bedroom wall and were likely blocked by a dresser right next to his bed.

“We're very lucky,” he said. “Now that I look at it, we're very lucky.”

Pierce Elementary is just a couple blocks away. It was in the evacuation area and school was canceled. Classes will resume at regular time Wednesday.

Bruce was wanted on robbery and controlled dangerous substance charges.