Nichols Hills Police Officer Fatally Shoots Suspect

Staff and Wire Reports

NICHOLS HILLS, Oklahoma - A Nichols Hills police officer fatally shot a man suspected in an attempted burglary Monday morning.

Police were called to the 1600 block of Elmhurst Avenue at about 8:30 a.m. after a neighbor called to say she heard glass breaking.

When officers arrived they confronted the suspect and shots were fired. The suspect, 34-year-old Dustin H. Edelen of Durant, was killed, officers said.

Edelen was serving a five year sentence at the Carver Transitional Center halfway house for Knowingly Concealing Stolen Property & Possession of CDS. The halfway house facilitates as many as 300 inmates, according to the Department of Corrections.

Edelen's release date was scheduled for December 31, 2010, according to DOC documents.

The son of the homeowner, Zach Turner, was not home at the time. Turner was out of town when he received a call Monday morning from police.

"Someone had broken a back window out a big window...And came in and they didn't tell me anything else," Turner said.

Hours later, Turner would discover the burglar was dead, chased by police from his house to the house next door.

"Ran down the driveway the officer yelled for him to halt, he turned around the officer saw something in his hand he believed to be a gun, the officer fired a shot," said Nichols Hills Police Chief Richard Mask.

The chief said a gun was not found. Meanwhile, the Nichols Hills Police Department has turned over the investigation to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation. They are investigating the incident as both a burglary and a homicide.

"Anytime there's an officer involved shooting, I like to get an independent outside opinion on what happened," Chief Mask said.

Police are also looking for a car seen in the area right before the shooting. They're wondering if perhaps the burglar had help, and his partner and the get-a-way car fled when things went awry.

"The only description is that it was an older model faded car dark tinted windows," Chief Mask said.

"We were kind of amazed things like that don't happen. We've had a few people around the neighborhood have attempted break-ins or whatever, but I've never heard of anything like this, especially not in my neighborhood," said neighbor Lynda Brooks.

The officer, Joe Land, has been placed on routine administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation. Police say he's been on the force for about 28 years.