An 64-year-old man wanted in Okmulgee County as a “person of interest” in a drive-by shooting was arrested at Cherokee Casino in Sallisaw after a multi-agency surveillance and a tip from the Okmulgee Police Department.
Police responded to a report of a shooting around 11 a.m. on Friday near East Buffalo Street and North Ohio Avenue in Okmulgee. When officers arrived, they discovered the home was hit twice by gunfire.
Police say witnesses identified Michael Johnson, 64, as the suspect. Johnson was looking for an ex-girlfriend, police say, and was angry because she ended the relationship.
Witnesses told officers Johnson threatened his ex-girlfriend’s family ad threatened to kill her according to a source in Okmulgee.
The Sallisaw Police Department, the Sequoyah County Sherrif’s Office and the Oklahoma Highway Patrol descended on the casino just after 1:30 p.m. to make the arrest after a tip from the Okmulgee police.
Plain clothes officers were able to identify Johnson as the suspect before other officers executed the capture without incident.
Early speculation surrounding the arrest linked Johnson with the shooting of two men in Okmulgee on June 20, but none of the spokespersons for the agencies involved in the investigation or arrest would confirm if there was a connection between Johnson and the earlier shooting.
