Police across Oklahoma searched high and low last week for suspected killer Michael Vance, accused of shooting and wounding two police officers and killing two of his relatives.
Officers cornered, shot and killed their man on Sunday, with much of the drama seen and heard in a dramatic police dashcam video:
The loud steady pop of firearms ringing out along a rural road. A white-knuckle and dogged pursuit of the state’s most notorious fugitive. The state troopers and Vance trading fire. A dangerous hunt in a dark, eerie and desolate stretch.
The drama ended a week after a rampage started, a crime spree marked by spurts of shootings, stabbings and carjackings that mobilized police of all levels and put a state on edge.
On Tuesday, police from federal, state, county and local agencies gathered at a press conference to punctuate the pride in their work and cooperation, and display the visual coup de grace to news reporters.
“Michael Vance was our worst-case scenario,” said Michael C. Thompson, commissioner of the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety. “It took all of us working together to bring this rampage to an end.”
A gunfight caught on a dashcam
As authorities learned of Vance’s possible location on Sunday, Oklahoma Highway Patrol Col. Rick Adams, speaking Tuesday before reporters, said police put a plan in place, setting up a command post and contacting local enforcement.
“This was the strongest lead we had at this point. We decided we were going to dig in until we found him or had evidence that he had left,” Adams said.
Dewey County Sheriff Clay Sander came across Vance around 9:47 p.m. He had been driving a pickup truck dragging a tow chain. Sander stopped him because he was concerned about sparks possibly causing a grass fire.
Vance shot the sheriff, and Sander was able to call in a description of the truck and get assistance, Adams said.
A helicopter caught sight of Vance’s vehicle and a roadblock was set up. Vance barreled through the roadblock and came to a stop, trading fire with three troopers, as seen in a helicopter video.
Troopers pursued him and gunfire was hot and heavy for a time. The dashcam showed the view ahead and the troopers armed with an AR-15-type weapons.
Five troopers engaged Vance after he stopped his truck and used it as cover. Wielding an AK-47, he emptied two 30-round magazines, officials said.
“Vance was a determined, violent criminal with no regard for public safety or human life. He had nothing to lose,” Thompson said. “He could have ended this at any time, peacefully, and he chose not to.”
Three arrested for aiding Vance
Three people have been arrested and accused of helping Vance. Danny Roach, April Marie Harden and Reginald Moore, each of whom faces two counts of accessory to murder.
Roach told police he let Vance in his house and gave him bandages to treat his wounds, Oklahoma City Sheriff John Whetsel said Monday.
Roach also gave Vance ammunition and traded guns with him, Whetsel said, providing him with an AK-47 with a short barrel to give him a “better tactical advantage.”
According to affidavits, Harden provided bandaging for Vance’s gunshot wounds, and she and Roach called Moore to seek his permission to give Vance an AK-47. Moore “helped orchestrate and approved the transaction” that equipped Vance with a weapon used in shootings during the reported rampage.
Roach and Moore also face two counts of shooting with intent to kill, and Roach is also charged with possession of a firearm.
Roach was arrested Saturday and charged on Monday, Whetsel said. CNN affiliate KFOR reported that Harden was arrested late Monday and Moore turned himself in.
Police believe the two men worked with Vance on a construction job and the woman was a friend of Vance’s, Whetsel said at the Tuesday press conference.
On the run for a week
Vance, 38, had been on the run since October 23, the day he is accused of shooting and wounding two Wellston, Oklahoma, police officers, and killing two relatives — an uncle and an aunt — Ronald and Valerie Kay Wilkson, in Luther, near Oklahoma City.
The Wilksons were stabbed, and Ronald Wilkson was also shot. Based on the stab wounds, the killer is believed to have tried to behead Wilkson and dismember his wife.
He also allegedly shot a woman while trying to steal a Lincoln Town Car. After wounding the officers, Vance appeared on Facebook Live, bragging about his exploits.
During the Tuesday press conference, Wellston Police Chief Tim Estes said one of the two officers, Shawn Stewart, is making a slow recovery; it will be about three months before he gets back. The other, Jim Hampton is making a swift recovery, Estes said.
Roach told police that Vance visited his home after the killings in Luther, Whetsel said. Vance directed Roach to his Facebook page and pointed out his broadcasts.
Vance described cutting the “wrong side” of the female victim’s neck, saying he had to cut the other side, Whetsel said. Vance also told Roach that he killed another woman because she lied to him, the sheriff said, without providing further detail.
At one point, a police car drove by Roach’s home and he served as lookout for Vance, Whetsel said.
Child sex abuse allegations
Vance was incensed after he was arrested in July on accusations of child sexual assault, another uncle told CNN affiliate KFOR. The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office said Vance had been recently released from jail. Whetsel said Monday he had “no idea” whether his pending charges had anything to do with the rampage.
Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly identified the male relative Vance is accused of killing as Robert Wilkson. His name is Ronald Wilkson.