OKLAHOMA CTY (KFOR) – Felony charges were officially filed Wednesday against the man accused of ambushing two Oklahoma County deputies and killing one of them.
Sgt. Bobby Swartz was laid to rest last Friday, the same day Deputy Mark Johns, who was also shot in the ordeal, was released from the hospital.
Police say Benjamin Plank shot both lawmen while they served eviction papers at his home.
In court documents, the district attorney filed five counts against Benjamin Plank. Those charges include first-degree murder, three counts of shooting with intent to kill and using a gun while driving.
“I can tell you with 100 percent confidence that he was planning on killing any law enforcement that came to his house… It wouldn’t have mattered what uniform you wore that day, if you were law enforcement, that was his plan,” said OKCPD Chief Wade Gourley.
Now, new court papers reveal what unfolded after two deputies were shot at an Oklahoma City home on August 22nd.
A probable cause affidavit reveals deputies were talking with Plank through the garage and front doors and a window. He refused to leave. That’s when Swartz and Johns went to the back door. Plank allegedly opened fire. Swartz was stuck multiple times.
The affidavit says the suspect, Benjamin Plank, went to an in-ground storm shelter in the garage and began shooting at a third deputy through a slightly opened garage door. The bullets, however, missed.
KFOR went to the neighborhood Wednesday to speak with residents about the tragic situation.
A neighbor who lives behind the home it happened at says she heard the gunfire.
“I’m like, ‘No, these are not firecrackers at all. Somebody’s shooting.’ And that was my response. I got up, I got fully dressed, put on shoes and everything else, and I prepared to run out the front door because I didn’t know where they were coming from, except they were coming from what sounded like my backyard. It was just that close and that vivid,” said Idna Fleming, a neighbor.
Following a chase, in which he allegedly shot at law enforcement, Plank pulled up to the main gate at Tinker Air Force Base and surrendered.
Past court records also show it was Plank’s mother who wanted him evicted from the home. She also filed a protective order against him, saying he had “become extremely verbally abusive” after losing his job in July.
Sources also told KFOR, officers took Plank to the hospital due to mental health a week prior to the shooting, but he was released hours later after it determined he wasn’t a danger.
One nearby resident told us her neighbor thought something was off with Plank the day before the shooting.
“Our real good friends who lives two doors down from me, he told us, that day, he knew that something was wrong with him (Plank) a day prior to that. And he said, ‘Are you okay? Do you need some help?’ And he (Plank) said, ‘No, I just need a hug,’” said Holly Stuart, neighbor.
The affidavit reveals during an interview with Plank he admitted to knowingly shooting and killing Swartz and to shooting Johns.
He also admitted to trying to shoot Norton in front of the house, and Deputy Brett Price during the pursuit.
