By Keith Purtell
Muskogee police responded Sunday afternoon to a shooting at a convenience store and later in the evening to a separate call at about 7:30 in which a victim was shot in the foot and another was stabbed in the back at 23rd and Elgin streets.
When police arrived at the convenience store, the suspects had fled the scene, and one victim had been taken by private vehicle to Muskogee Regional Medical Center.
The first incident happened at about 4 p.m. near Express Fuels on the northeast corner of the intersection of 10th Street and West Okmulgee Avenue.
Lt. Bert Poole said the shooting victim there, Timmy Coleman, was later transported by helicopter from MRMC to an unnamed hospital in Tulsa.
Sgt. Lonnie Bemo, a crime scene investigator, said he had located 12 pieces of evidence including shell casings and bullet fragments.
Gil Diep, 38, manager of the store, said he was behind the cash register when he heard shots outside.
“We were so scared that we ran to the back and hid in the bathroom,” he said. “We had about three customers and I said to them ‘Come on, hide right now!’ I didn’t want to get hit, and I didn’t want my customers to get hit.”
Diep said he only saw one person outside; a man running west in front of the store.
“I’ve been here four years and this is the first time anything like this has happened at any of my stores,” he said.
One stray bullet apparently broke a window at an AAA Oklahoma Automobile Club location south and west of the shooting. The manager told police she had just received a security alarm call about broken glass.
A tan Chevrolet Caprice Classic belonging to one of the people involved in the shooting at the convenience store remained parked in front of the convenience store as police secured the scene.
Poole said early Sunday evening that police were not ready to make an arrest on the first shooting, and that they were concentrating on the crime scene. Before they could find out Coleman's condition, the other shooting and stabbing took place, he said.
The names of those victims and their conditions were not available Sunday evening.
City Editor Elizabeth Ridenour contributed to this report.
Reach Keith Purtell at 684-2925 or kpurtell@ muskogeephoenix.com
