Did Jammed Gun Save Police Lives in Comanche Nation Casino Shooting?

  • The suspect’s federal charges include assault on an officer with a deadly weapon
  • Investigators found a bullet-jammed Springfield Hellcat pistol near him
  • Michael Oloa had been banned from the Comanche Nation Casino property since 2016
  • Comanche Nation Police discovered the man sitting at a gaming machine on-site
  • Officers fired taser bursts at the fleeing suspect, who returned fire
  • A gunman killed two people at a tribal casino in Wisconsin earlier last month
bullets jammed in assault rifle
Did a bullet-jammed gun capable of holding 13 rounds save police lives in the recent shooting at Comanche Nation Casino in Oklahoma? [Image: Shutterstock.com]

Banned patron shot at pursuing officers

A suspect in a Comanche Nation Casino shooting in Oklahoma, Michael Oloa, has been charged in federal court with “assault on an officer with a deadly weapon and being a felon in possession of a firearm.” Now, recently released court documents revealed on June 2 indicate that luck may have saved police lives during the May 25 incident.

assault on an officer with a deadly weapon and being a felon in possession of a firearm”

Comanche Nation Police took to Facebook last week to share news of the shooting:

On the evening of May 25, Oloa fired a weapon towards pursuing Comanche Nation Police officers in the Comanche Nation Casino car park in Lawton, Oklahoma. A KSWO 7News report this week said investigators found a Springfield 9mm Hellcat pistol “jammed near where Oloa was arrested” and that “a bullet had caused it to jam.”

According to springfieldarmory.com, the Hellcat is the “highest capacity micro-compact 9mm in the world” with a capacity of 11 rounds. An extended magazine “bumps up the round count to 13.” A Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agent has stated that the firearm found at the scene of arrest was not, in fact, manufactured in Oklahoma.

Comanche Nation Police dispatched officers to the tribal casino last Tuesday in response to a man, Oloa, trespassing on the property. Oloa – whose rap sheet includes a conviction for possession of a controlled dangerous substance in Comanche County – is reportedly banned from the Comanche Nation Casino since 2016. The gambling facility is owned and operated by the tribal sovereignty of the Comanche Nation of Oklahoma.

Suspect discovered at a gaming machine

KSWO 7News reported that Comanche Nation Police “approached Oloa as he was sitting at a gaming machine.” When officers asked to see Oloa’s ID, he got up from the gaming machine and ran through the casino and out the doors.

The Comanche Nation Casino’s website states that the property houses “over 800 of the latest and greatest slot machines, video poker and more.”

An officer fired a taser at the fleeing Oloa. The burst had no effect on the running man, so police hit him with another taser shot. It was at this stage, according to court documents, that Oloa produced a firearm and “shot once toward officers.”

The suspect then “appeared to point the gun at them again” before he ran into the nearby Montego Bay apartments, while police officers took cover. They later found and arrested him in the back patio of an apartment, where investigators also found the bullet-jammed Springfield Hellcat pistol.

More casino-vicinity violence

Comanche Nation Police said “no officers or patrons were reported to have been injured” by the shooting. The incident at Comanche Nation Casino is the second time in the same month that a tribal casino was at the center of gun violence, with the first incident having a deadly outcome.

Over at Oneida Casino in Wisconsin on May 1, a gunman killed two people before police shot him dead, with one witness saying he heard 20 to 30 gunshots. Another fatal shooting at a tribal casino took place in April at Wild Horse Pass Casino in Arizona, where a gunman killed a 52-year-old male his ex-girlfriend was reportedly dating.

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