OKMULGEE, Okla. (AP) - Additional video has been released from the scene where an Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper fatally shot a Tulsa-area pastor while trying to get the man and his brother out of floodwaters last month.
Nehemiah Fischer, 35, was shot and killed May 29 after troopers responded to a call about a vehicle stranded in floodwaters about 20 miles south of Tulsa.
The Highway Patrol had previously released some dashcam video of the incident but on Thursday released all video from the dashcams of both troopers, TV station KOTV reported.
The previous video showed uniformed troopers identifying themselves and ordering Fischer and his brother Brandon Fischer out of the water. As the two exited, the video shows Nehemiah Fischer lunging at a trooper.
In the new video, the second trooper is seen drawing his weapon, and Brandon Fischer appears to raise his arms before all go out of camera view, then what appear to be three gunshots are heard.
Brandon Fischer then curses the troopers, threatening to kill them while a trooper talks to him.
“Settle down. Calm down please. Calm down for your brother,” the trooper says.
OHP spokesman Capt. Paul Timmons has said Nehemiah Fischer, an assistant pastor at Faith Bible Church in Tulsa, attacked trooper Mark Southall and held his head underwater. He said Southall and trooper Michael Taylor fired at Fischer but only shots from Taylor hit Fischer.
The latest videos were released the same day Brandon Fischer was due in Okmulgee County District Court on misdemeanor charges of threatening an act of violence and public intoxication stemming from the confrontation.
The hearing was postponed until August, KOTV reported.
Brandon Fischer’s attorney, Allen Smallwood, did not immediately return a phone call or an email from The Associated Press seeking comment Thursday. But Smallwood previously told the Tulsa World he wasn’t surprised that prosecutors opted for misdemeanor charges.
“You can be charged with a felony (when) threatening a violent act, but you have to have the means to carry it out,” Smallwood said.
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This story has been corrected to show that both troopers fired at Nehemiah Fischer but only one trooper’s shots hit him.
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