1 Killed After Bail Bondsman Shoots 2 In SW OKC Hotel, Police Say

Oklahoma City police are investigating a deadly shooting that involved a bail bondsman.

Police said the bondsman shot at a man and woman inside a room at the Hyatt Place hotel on S Meridian Avenue. The woman was pronounced dead Friday morning. Officers at the scene did not comment if the bondsman was arrested.    

“It’s always a tragedy,“ said Ken Boyer, Oklahoma Bondsman Association president. “You want to pick someone up and return them without anyone being harmed.”

What was possibly a routine job for a bail bondsman turned deadly. Police said the man tracked a fugitive to the sixth floor of the hotel when a fight broke out.

Related: Police Investigate Deadly Shooting Allegedly Involving Bondsman At Hotel In SW OKC 

“It is a difficult and dangerous job,” said Boyer.  

Boyer said deadly endings are rare in his line of work. He added, a hotel room can make the job difficult if someone is not willing to leave.

“The good thing about catching someone at a hotel is there’s only one entrance and exit,” said Boyer. “The bad thing about catching someone at a hotel is there’s only one entrance and exit.”  

He thinks the bondsman was possibly defending himself when he fired at the fugitive and a woman in the hotel room.

“Out of the hundreds per week or thousands per year that are captured by bondsmen and silently taken to jail,” said Boyer. “The one that happens occasionally like this is tragic.”   

The bondsman reportedly shot the wanted man in the head and the woman was shot near the abdomen. Both victims were taken to the hospital. Police said the woman died and the man is alive.

Officials have not released details if the suspect was armed or what he was running from. Boyer said it was likely a missed court appearance.

“There’s that one out of 10 that refuses to come in,” said Boyer. “They want to stay out there doing crime or they don’t want to face the penalty.”