Prosecutor says Muskogee shooting justified

Lt. Josh Jenkins

MUSKOGEE, Okla. (AP) – An Oklahoma prosecutor says a Muskogee police officer acted lawfully when he wounded a man who tried to throw a flaming Molotov cocktail at the suspect’s mother and the officer.

Muskogee County District Attorney Orvil Loge said Tuesday Lt. Josh Jenkins was “legally justified” when he twice shot 32-year-old Darnell Cox on Sept. 4. Cox was treated for wounds in the left hip and left upper arm and charged with first-degree arson, assault and battery with a deadly weapon and other counts.

Jenkins and two other officers were investigating shoplifting reports when they went to Cox’s house in Muskogee, about 120 miles northeast of Oklahoma City.

Cox was shot as he prepared to throw an improvised incendiary device made of a flammable liquid and a burning paper towel.