Civilian, Off-duty Cops Take Down Armed Man at State Fair

Thanks to the action of  three men, who are now being called heroic, a deadly situation was neutralized. A fight between two men at the Oklahoma State Fair quickly escalated when one of the men pulled out a gun, luckily, three heroes were there and the situation was contained without any serious injuries.

Nikki Schalla was waiting for her kids, who were on a ride at the time when she witnessed part of the incident. Schalla said there were at least 100 people in the area when the fight broke out, a mob formed as the two men tussled, and people yelled, “Fight! Fight! Fight!”. Then suddenly, Schalla and those that are nearby began to panic when someone also screamed, “He’s got a gun!”

A quick-thinking civilian wrestled the suspect to the ground, then two off-duty Del City police officers, who were in the right place at the right  time, stepped in to help and kept the suspect detained until Oklahoma City police officers arrived on the scene. No shot was fired.

Amidst this commotion, Schalla was able to take some pictures of the moment. That includes one showing the three men subduing the suspect and 19-year-old Otto Reed, who was allegedly armed with a revolver. The civilian who intervened to help is still unidentified, but the two officers were later identified as Nathan Storts and Chauncey Ward.

Capt. Paco Balderrma with the Oklahoma City Police Department said: “We’re very thankful that those officers were there because we don’t know what could have happened. If this guy was going to fire this gun at somebody, kill somebody, we don’t even know why he pulled it,”

Oklahoma State Fair policy prohibits weapons of any type, even with a valid concealed carry permit. Reed was arrested and charged for unlawfully carrying a firearm, the second weapon confiscated at the fair so far this year

What caused the fight between the two men is still undisclosed.