Two dead in Interstate 40 shooting spree

SECOND UPDATE:

From the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation:

Late Wednesday night, police in western Oklahoma began receiving multiple 911 calls reporting the driver of a vehicle committing acts of road rage. Callers also reported the driver was shooting at cars.

A man driving with his wife along Interstate 40 westbound was hit by that gunfire. That occurred at approximately mile marker 93 near Hydro. Jeffrey Kent Powell, 45, of Arapaho, died at the scene.

A short time later, Weatherford police on normal patrol found a vehicle on Airport Road (mile marker 84) just off I-40. Inside the vehicle was woman who had been shot.

Billie Jean West, 63, of Lone Wolf, was pronounced dead at a Weatherford hospital.

Oklahoma Highway Patrol troopers caught up with the pickup truck described by multiple 911 callers.

A short pursuit ensued with the suspect traveling into Washita County and back into Custer County. At mile marker 50, the suspect pulled to the shoulder and surrendered.

Jeremy Doss Hardy (d.o.b. 10/5/1979), of Pasadena, Texas, was arrested on a complaint of DUI.

Many local, county, and state officers are involved in this case. OSBI investigative and crime scene agents are helping to collect evidence and information at the multiple shooting scenes.

UPDATE:

WEATHERFORD (AP) — Authorities say a man targeting motorists randomly from his pickup truck shot at least four vehicles along a three-county stretch of Interstate 40, killing a man traveling with his wife near Hydro and a woman more than 10 miles away in Weatherford.

Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation spokeswoman Jessica Brown said Thursday the agency is taking over the investigation.

Brown says the Oklahoma Highway Patrol is investigating at least two other cars that were struck by gunfire, besides the victims’ vehicles.

Custer County Sheriff Bruce Peoples said reports came in at about 11:50 p.m. Wednesday of a man firing at vehicles on Interstate 40 in Canadian County, which is adjacent to Oklahoma City.

Peoples says the suspect surrendered without incident shortly before 1 a.m. Thursday in Custer County.

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Earlier story:

A western Oklahoma sheriff says two people are dead after a man drove through three counties on Interstate 40, firing randomly from his pickup truck.

Multiple other vehicles were struck by gunfire in the incident early Thursday, and the suspect surrendered without incident.

Custer County Sheriff Bruce Peoples says reports came in late Wednesday of a man firing at vehicles on Interstate 40 in Canadian County in central Oklahoma. The sheriff says the man drove west on the interstate and continued firing at vehicles, killing two people in separate shootings about 10 miles apart.

The sheriff says the suspect surrendered early Thursday and is being booked in the Custer County jail. He says authorities have not yet interviewed the suspect but that road rage is suspected in the shootings.