Associated Press
HUGO, Okla. — A man arrested on a robbery warrant after police opened fire on the truck he was in, injuring three young children, was in custody in an Oklahoma jail Sunday.
Choctaw County Jail records indicate that William Devaughn Smith was being held on an aggravated robbery complaint. He had been in custody in Lamar County, Texas, after being released from a hospital there. The records don’t indicate whether Smith has an attorney who could speak on his behalf.
The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation said four children and their mother were with Smith when two officers approached him and gunfire broke out on Friday in Hugo, Oklahoma, near the Texas state line. Smith’s relationship to the woman and children is not clear.
Smith was treated for injuries at a hospital in Paris, Texas. The bureau said that three children, ages 5, 4 and 1, received injuries that are not life-threatening.
Authorities said the children were taken to an Oklahoma hospital, but haven’t released their conditions or names.
Olivia Hill told Sherman, Texas, news station KXII-TV that she is the mother of the children. She said the 4-year-old was shot in the head, the 5-year-old suffered a skull fracture and the 1-year-old suffered gunshot wounds on her face. She said the fourth child, a 2-year-old, “wasn’t touched with any bullets.”
Investigators have not determined what led to the shooting. A spokeswoman for the State Bureau of Investigation has said that authorities were still trying to learn the details of the interaction between Smith and police.
It’s also not clear whether the officers who opened fire could see the children inside the truck.
Smith is suspected in an April 11 armed robbery at a Pizza Hut in Hugo.
A post on the Hugo, Oklahoma, police Facebook page said a man entered the back entrance of the restaurant, pressed an object to an employee’s back and demanded money. Police said the worker handed over money and the robber left.