ABC News(OKLAHOMA CITY) — A citizen with a gun fatally shot an armed suspect who opened fire in an Oklahoma City restaurant on Thursday, local officials said.
The Oklahoma City Police Department said on Twitter that investigators were on the scene of the shooting at Louie’s Grill & Bar, near Lake Hefner Parkway.
Both the suspect and the civilian were armed with a handgun, police said.
The “bystander with a pistol confronted the shooter outside the restaurant and fatally shot him,” OKCPD wrote on Twitter.
The suspect was outside when the suspect walked into the restaurant and opened fire around 6:30 p.m. local time, Oklahoma City Police Public Information Officer Bo Matthews said at a press conference Thursday evening.
Two female customers are among the injured, Matthews said. The victims are expected to survive, according to Matthews.
The conditions of the victims were not disclosed, but at least one was in surgery, Matthews said.
“The biggest thing is thankfully the only person that is deceased is the person who went to harm other citizens and it looks like our other citizens are going to survive at this point so that’s the best thing we can hope for and that’s what looks like happened today,” he said.
The identities of the suspect, the citizen who shot the suspect and those who were injured have not been released.
Matthews said that the citizen who fatally shot the suspect was outside when the shooting started inside the restaurant.
When asked about the citizen, Matthews said, “We don’t know anything other than it was a civilian that was outside and he confronted the suspect and he shot and killed him.”
Police are looking to interview at least 100 witnesses, Matthews said.
The suspect was wearing “some kind of ear protection” and glasses though it is unclear if the glasses were prescription or intended to help protect his eyes during the shooting, Matthews said.
“This is so early on in the investigation,” he said.
The National Rifle Association tweeted about the shooting, touting it as an example of the idea that “the best way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun,” an idea disputed by experts.
The gun rights group also used their tweet to send a message to Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin, who vetoed a bill that would have eliminated the requirement for people to have completed a firearms training course in order to carry guns in public. The NRA supported the proposed bill, but the Republican governor, who has supported concealed carry and open carry laws in the past, vetoed it.
“I believe the firearms laws we currently have in place are effective, appropriate and minimal, and serve to reassure our citizens that people who are carrying handguns in this state are qualified to do so,” she said in a statement explaining her veto.
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