The Oklahoma City Police Department revealed the identity of an inmate who held a jail detention officer hostage using a “makeshift weapon” on Saturday.
Curtis Williams, 34, died after police opened fire on him due to the “imminent peril” the captive officer was in, according to an official readout.
On Saturday, Williams was part of a group of inmates who took the officer hostage on the 10th floor of the Oklahoma County Detention Center. The floor is notorious for keeping the jail’s more difficult inmates.
After the hostage situation began, the Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office requested backup from the police department.
OKLAHOMA CITY INMATE SHOT AND KILLED DURING HOSTAGE SITUATION
Two officers fired their weapons at Williams, including Lt. Coy Gilbert, a 23-year department veteran, and Officer Kevin Kuhlman, who served on the force for five years. He was placed on routine administrative leave.
The officer who was held hostage was rescued and taken to a local medical facility for stabbing wounds by inmates while he was held captive. His condition is not immediately known, according to the release.
Authorities said officer body camera footage of the incident will be released soon. It was not immediately clear how many times he was struck or how many rounds were fired.
During a news conference on Monday, Williams’s mother said he was speaking out against poor jail conditions.
In a video recorded by one of the inmates involved in the hostage incident, one person said, “We can’t take showers.”
“I knew Curtis for 34 years, and I know for sure that he would not just go out and kidnap anyone,” Rhonda Lambert, the mother of Williams, said, according to the Oklahoman.
“Conditions in the jail caused my son and so many others like him to lose self-control,” she said.
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The Washington Examiner reached out to the Oklahoma City Police Department but did not immediately receive a response.
