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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Police: 2 shot at Oklahoma restaurant; civilian kills gunman

Associated Press

OKLAHOMA CITY – A man armed with a pistol walked into an Oklahoma City restaurant at the dinner hour Thursday and opened fire, wounding two customers, before being shot dead by a handgun-carrying civilian in the parking lot, police said.

The shooting happened around 6:30 p.m. at Louie’s On The Lake, a restaurant on Lake Hefner.

A woman and a female juvenile were undergoing surgery for gunshot wounds but apparently “are going to survive,” said Capt. Bo Matthews, a police spokesman. A man suffered a broken arm while trying to escape the shooting.

A family member told KOCO-TV that her daughter and 12-year-old granddaughter were shot while entering the restaurant for the girl’s birthday dinner. Authorities have not identified the injured patrons.

The dead suspect’s identity also was not immediately known, Matthews said.

“We have no reason to believe this is a terrorist type of incident,” Matthews said. The motive was unclear otherwise, and the investigation at the scene was expected to extend into the early morning hours as law enforcement personnel interview about 100 eyewitnesses, he said.

In April, a restaurant patron wrestled an assault-style rifle away from a gunman at a Waffle House in Nashville, Tennessee. Four people were killed in that shooting. Police have said there would have been far more casualties if it weren’t for the patron’s quick thinking.