Several hundred people from Tulsa were at a prayer vigil to give support to two officers who are in a serious condition after getting shot.
A vigil was held on Monday evening, soon after a rookie Aurash Zarkeshan and his partner Sgt. Craig Johnson were shot in the head and another seriously injured when apprehending a suspect in the morning, reported by Fox 23 Tulsa.
Sgt. Johnson, who is a15-year veteran of the Tulsa Police Department, did not survive. On the other hand, Zarkeshan is in a critical condition after getting mutiple gunshots.
A woman who expressed sorrow said that she has a son who is also placed at the Mingo Valley Division. Both Zarkeshan and Johnson are officers in the precinct as well.
Everyone in the community paid tribute to the officers who are at the front line each day. For every shift, they are out and the community expresses its support for them.
A makeshift memorial was a parked patrol car that was used for Zarkeshan and Johnson. As the day progressed, the car got many offerings from the community, as appreciation for all the officers there as well.
Activist Tykebrean Natral Cheshier was among those offering support told the station. She placed get well cards and flowers on the patrol car.
Cheshier spoke to the station and said she was not keen on funerals and anything sad. She added that the community loves them, and expressed that it should have not happened and was sorry.
On their Facebook page, the Tulsa Police Department expressed its deepest appreciation for all the support given to the fallen police officers.
The city's police union later issued a statement slamming the national anti-police narrative.
From the Tulsa Fraternal Order of Police Chairman Jerad Lindsey, he wrote on a Facebook post and said that he discussed with the police overnight. He stated that it was the work of the national anti-police narrative that sent the officers to the hospital.
He urged everyone the anti-police rhetoric should be recognized and stop the violence endorsed by them which is a movement against officers of the law.
When the Tulsa Fraternal Order of Police Chairman Jerad Lindsey made the statement, a group of activists said the statement was irresponsible.
The We The People Oklahoma, answered back through its Facebook page that there is no anti-police narrative, and then compared the officers who got shot. It was a comparison to the officer who killed Floyd, that was an unfair assessment.
At around 3:30 am, last Monday it happened that the suspect, David Anthony Ware, 32, was stopped because of an expired license plate tag. Johnson was there for backup.
Ware did not want to go out of the car and he struggled against the officers, according to Fox 23.
Both officers were attempting to control the suspect even using a Taser and pepper spray. Ware took out a hidden handgun and fired three-times, reported the station.
Two of the shots hit Johnson and he fell, but Ware shot him again. After the commotion, Ware got away when a friend picked him up. The accomplice, Michael Hall, age 29, was arrested as an accessory of the crime.
