An Oklahoma woman who was detained for erratic behavior ended up slipping out of her handcuffs while inside a police cruiser and shooting a deputy with his own AR-15 rifle, according to local news outlet KOKH.
Rachel Zion Clay was reportedly found by Grady County police officers crawling on all fours and barking when they detained her and are said to have had no plans to arrest the woman until the shooting.
“When we detain somebody, they actually go in handcuffs [and] they place her in the backseat of a patrol car,” Grady County Undersheriff, Gary Boggess told the outlet. “While in the backseat patrol car, she was able to get her wrist free from the handcuffs and the handcuffs were put on properly.”
He continued, “She was able to reach up on our consoles. There are several switches. one is a gun switch to unlock the gun lock, and she found it, unlocked the gun locker, and was able to retrieve an AR-15 rifle. Then she was able to figure out how to put a round in it, put it on fire and she fired approximately 10 rounds at our deputies and a civilian.”
The officer and civilian sustained non-life-threatening injuries and have since been released from the hospital.
“It’s a freak deal,” Boggess said of the shooting. “It’s one of these probably, I’m not gonna say one in a million. But you know, it’s one of those deals that you know, once it happens then you go back and try to make sure it never happens again. And that’s what we’re looking at.”
Boggess reiterated that policy changes are already underway at the department as a result of the shooting to help ensure officers’ safety.
“One, I will say is our console. Where it actually said gun and she was able to see that, that’s gonna be replaced. We’re gonna put a switch someplace else in the vehicle to lock our gun,” Boggess said.
Rachel Zion Clay later tested positive for methamphetamine, and now faces three charges of shooting with intent to kill.
