Mark Costello: Oklahoma Department Of Labor Commissioner Allegedly Stabbed To Death By Son

Oklahoma commissioner Mark Costello was stabbed to death - allegedly by his son - outside a restaurant in Oklahoma City on Sunday evening, according to the police, NBC News reported. Police officers received a report of the stabbing incident at around 6:35 p.m. local time on Sunday. They found Mark Costello, 59, with several stab wounds to his head and neck. The Oklahoma Labor Commissioner was immediately transported to a hospital within the area where he passed away.

Amy Elliot, spokeswoman of the State's Medical Examiner's Office said an autopsy will be conducted.

The police said the squabble began inside the building of Braum's ice cream and fast-food restaurant. It continued outside the establishment into the parking lot where bystanders tried to stop the attacker before the officers arrived, according to the Washington Post.

According to Oklahoma City Police Department Capt. Paco Balderrama, police have taken 27-year-old Christian Costello, the commissioner's son, into custody and arrested him under a first-degree murder complaint. He remained under police custody until late Sunday night.

Patrick Spencer, a witness of the incident who was driving past the area, said he saw the commissioner bleeding outside the restaurant and thought the man had been shot, CNN reported.

"We got a closer look and there was a guy chasing him with a knife," the witness told KFOR for CNN. "It was shocking and dramatic." Spencer said the two men were going around the establishment before the elder Costello's son attacked the father in the head.

"He was pretty bloody, and the wife was trying to get him in their vehicle to get him away from the suspect." Spencer added.

Fellow Oklahoma Republican, Senator James Lankford, expressed his condolences through a tweet:

Mark Costello took the position as Oklahoma's labor commissioner in 2010 and had previously founded the telephone software company, AMCAT.

Tags

Oklahoma