Man In Water Shot: Trooper Kills Man Trying To Get Out Of High Water With Vehicle

A man in high water was shot and killed by Oklahoma troopers after they responded to a call that his vehicle was stranded in south Tulsa late Friday.

CNN reports that two highway patrol troopers in Oklahoma accidentally shot two men with one of them being killed; the men were brothers.

Capt. Paul Timmons of the Oklahoma Highway Patrol confirms that the men had two different vehicles. When troopers told the men to come toward them to safer ground out of the high water, a fight broke out at some point. What happened next was that one of the men in the water was shot — fatally. Nehemiah Fischer, 35, was shot dead, according to Timmons. Fischer’s uninjured older brother, Brandon, was arrested.

Nehemiah Fischer was reportedly armed, but it’s unknown why the altercation broke out. The troopers involved in the incident have been put on administrative leave.

In a more in-depth report covered on Tulsa World, reveals that Brandon Fischer was booked into the Okmulgee County jail on charges of assaulting an officer and public intoxication.

The actual shooting took place on Hectorville Road and Bixby Road. Authorities had received a report of a stranded vehicle on Bixby Road around 9:20 p.m. Friday. Troopers found Nehemiah and Brandon Fischer at the scene pushing a vehicle out of high water, Timmons says.

“The water was already fairly deep, and it was starting to rise pretty quickly and it was running pretty rapidly across the road. They were concerned these guys would be swept away.”

When a trooper responding to the call told the men to get to higher ground, a confrontation ensued and an altercation broke out. Timmons explains that this is where the information gets a bit murky, because the men allegedly approached the troopers and that’s when “shots were fired.”

A weapon was recovered at the scene where the man in the water was shot and killed. It’s unknown which of the men had the weapon and if they tried using it against the troopers. According to the report, the trooper who shot the victim said he was “attacked during a call southeast of Liberty.”

Both troopers involved in the shooting are on administrative leave while an investigation is conducted. It’s possible that investigators will speak with Brandon Fischer. Neither one of the troopers were injured in the confrontation.

More on this story is still to come. With all of the police shootings hitting news, this one about a man being shot in water for unclear reasons is getting attention this weekend.

[Photo by NYPD via Getty Images]