Two former Oklahoma police officers have been charged with first-degree manslaughter in connection with the 2021 fatal shooting of a Black man in Comanche County, according to a statement from District Attorney Kyle Cabelka.
Quadry Sanders was killed at a home on December 5, 2021, when Lawton Police Department officers responded to a call about a man in violation of a protective order and in possession of a firearm, according to the statement.
Once officers arrived at the home, “the suspect was identified as Quadry Sanders. Officers learned that Mr. Sanders was inside the home (…) and was refusing to let one of the residents leave,” the statement read. “Officers set up a perimeter around the house. A sergeant with the Lawton Police Department (LPD) then began giving Mr. Sanders orders using a PA system in a patrol vehicle. Shortly after commands were given, a female resident of the home exited.”
Sanders was later seen going out the back door of the home, and an officer gave “commands to show his hands, which he immediately complied with,” according to the DA.
“But then Mr. Sanders ran back into the home. Seconds later, Quadry Sanders walked out of the front door of the home. Mr. Sanders was met underneath a carport by Officers Robert Hinkle and Nathan Ronan,” the statement read.
Bodycam video released on May 6 shows one of the officers telling Sanders “hands, hands” and “down, down, down, down.”
Sanders’ hands were “clearly seen and the only item visible in his hands is a ball cap, which he transfers from his right hand to his left hand,” according to the statement.
Sanders can then be seen turning back towards what the DA described as the home’s front door.
“Mr. Sanders can be seen raising both of his hands in the air, above his head. At that time, Officer Hinkle shoots his firearm four times at Mr. Sanders. Mr. Sanders falls to the ground and appears to have been shot, at which time Officer Hinkle once again orders ‘hands, hands, hands,’ and to ‘quit reaching,'” the statement read.
“Sanders sits up from his back with his hands above his head at which time Officer Hinkle fires his firearm seven additional times. Simultaneously with these shots, Officer Ronan also fires his weapon at Mr. Sanders four times,” the statement read.
Sanders was pronounced dead on the way to the hospital, and no weapon was located on Sanders’ body or in the area where he was shot, according to the DA.
A screen grab of body camera footage from the Lawton Police Department posted on the City of Lawton’s YouTube.
According to the autopsy report, the medical examiner listed Sanders’ cause of death “as multiple gunshot wounds.”
“There were twelve gunshot wounds observed on Mr. Sanders’ body (abdomen, groin area, legs, arm, and hand),” Cabelka’s statement said.
“After review of the entire case file presented by the OSBI (Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation), including the Medical Examiner’s Autopsy Report, the Comanche County District Attorney’s Office has made the determination that the shooting of Quadry Sanders was not justified. Officers Robert Hinkle and Nathan Ronan have been charged with First Degree Manslaughter,” the DA’s statement added.
Gary James, the attorney representing Hinkle and Ronan, told The Oklahoman “officers had repeatedly been called to the house because of Sanders, and evidence will show on the night of the fatal shooting they believed he was reaching for a weapon in his pants.”
“Nobody is looking into the facts of this case,” James reportedly told The Oklahoman on Sunday. “These are good police officers.”
James did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment. CNN has also reached out to Sanders’ family’s lawyer, Lee Merritt, for comment.
On January 7, 2022, at the conclusion of the administrative investigation, City Manager Michael Cleghorn, “upon careful consideration,” terminated officers Nathan Ronan and Robert Hinkle, he told CNN in a statement.
Lawton Mayor Stan Booker released a statement Friday regarding the DA’s decision, saying, “The loss of life in our community is always a difficult matter to grasp. My thoughts and prayers go out to the parents and those in our community who lost a loved one in Quadry Sanders.”
“Although this decision and the releasing of information that followed may provide clarity to this tragic incident, it does not come without impacting one’s stages of grief and mourning of a lost loved one,” he added.
