Oklahoma Police Release Body-Cam Footage Of Standoff And Shooting Of Prisoner Who Held Guard At Knifepoint

Bodycam video released Friday shows Curtis Montrell Williams holding what appears to be a makeshift knife to a jail guard's neck before being fatally shot by Oklahoma City police.

Williams, 34, was a detainee at the Oklahoma County jail waiting for a trial when the guard was subdued and other inmates were released from their cells on Saturday. The guard was held hostage for about an hour. A police spokesman said they believe Williams was involved in the initial hostage-taking.

Police recovered the knife after the shooting.

As OKC police and deputies from the sheriff's office approached the area where the guard was being held, they saw him on his knees with Williams standing over him. An officer can be heard in a bodycam video saying, "he's got a knife." Two shots are heard.

"What's very concerning to me as I watch this is, is he puts the hostage on his knees in front of me, and continues to hold that knife at his throat and that's what the officers are faced with when they come in," said Police Chief Wade Gourley. "And to me, that's a very dangerous situation. I don't know why you would put somebody on their knees like that unless you're preparing to continue that assault further."

Other videos taken from jail security cameras before the shooting showed a chaotic scene, with inmates walking freely throughout the common room and on walkways one floor above the open area. As the guard lay handcuffed on a table, an inmate struck him on the head and stabbed him several times in the leg, Gourley said. At some point, the guard's own pepper spray was used against him.

During the hostage situation, two inmates attacked a third inmate for an unknown reason. Gourley said he expects charges to be filed against inmates once the investigation is presented to District Attorney David Prater.

The incident began about 4 p.m. Saturday, according to the timeline of events presented by Gourley. Police arrived 30 minutes later after citizens saw Facebook Live video being streamed from inside the jail by inmates who had taken the guard hostage. Jail staff and sheriff's deputies asked city police for help, since that part of the jail contained some three dozen inmates.

Police and deputies made entry into the jail pod at about 5 p.m., causing most inmates to retreat to their cells. Williams and the guard were alone at the top of stairs leading to the second level, and the video shows the guard going down to his knees with Williams standing over him on the stairwell landing.

"The officers have to go in, they have to try and rescue this hostage because of the situation. We can't sit there and watch him be brutalized anymore and possibly killed," said Gourley.

The videos were shown to reporters Friday at the Oklahoma City Police Department. Outside the press conference, protesters shouted, banged on windows and used a bullhorn siren, demanding to be allowed inside to ask questions of the chief.