Watch Now: ‘Bullets were literally flying everywhere’: Witnesses describe shooting in Taft that left 1 dead, 7 injured | Local News

TAFT — Witnesses on Sunday described a chaotic scene in which a plethora of gunshots were fired during a Memorial Day outdoor gathering in the small community of Taft in Muskogee County, leaving one dead and seven injured.

Meanwhile, authorities said a suspect, Skylar Dewayne Buckner, turned himself in, in connection with the shooting.

“Bullets were literally flying everywhere,” said Jasmayne Hill, who was working at a food truck during the event, where an estimated 1,500 people had gathered for an annual Memorial Day weekend celebration in the middle of the small town, about 10 miles west of Muskogee.

Shots started being fired shortly after midnight Sunday, witnesses said.

Hill said she and the owner of the Kountry Queens food truck, Tiffany Walton, dove to the floor inside the food truck, trying to hide from flying bullets.

“We’re thinking we’re safe and the bullets are like going through the bottom of the food truck,” Hill said. “They didn’t hit us, thank God.”

At least one large bullet hole could be seen on the outside of the truck, not far from where the truck’s propane tank was located, Walton said.

A woman was killed and seven other people were injured in the shooting, including a juvenile, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation said Sunday.

The names of the person killed and those injured had not been released Sunday.

But witnesses at the scene Sunday said the woman who was killed died after reportedly being struck in the head.

Witnesses said several of the injured were struck in the legs and did not appear to have life-threatening injuries.

The eight that were struck in the shooting were all transferred to the hospital in Muskogee and three patients were then transferred to a hospital in Tulsa for treatment, the OSBI said.

The woman who died was 39 years old, the OSBI said.

The other seven injured range in age from 9 to 56.

All are said to have non-life-threatening injuries, the OSBI said.

The agency also clarified that only one juvenile — not two as it was previously reported — was injured in the shooting.

Hill said the shooting began with an initial “pop” that sounded like a firework.

But then she said, a much-louder, high-caliber-type weapon could be heard firing rapidly, as if it was some sort of automatic weapon.

“It was something like right out of a movie,” Hill said.

“It (lasted) a long time,” Walton said.

The Muskogee County Sheriff’s Office was in attendance at the event and immediately rendered aid to the victims, the OSBI said.

The man who turned himself in, Buckner, was being processed and was to be booked into the Muskogee County Jail on yet-to-be-determined complaints, Muskogee County District Attorney Larry Edwards said.

The OSBI said Buckner turned himself in at the Muskogee County Sheriff’s Office at 4:05 pm

Edwards could not immediately provide Buckner’s hometown.

He also declined to say if there were other suspects in the case or if other arrests were pending, citing the ongoing investigation.

However, he said casings from four different caliber guns were found at the scene of the shootings.

By late Sunday morning, law enforcement had cleared the scene, and only the owners and employees of two food trucks remained in the area, along with a few passersby.

Authorities had also removed crime scene tape from the area, along with markings of where gunshot shell casings were found.

Witnesses said there was at least 40 marked points where shell casing were found, all around the area.

Neicy Bates and her husband, Triirmain Bates, were operating the Fat Fries food truck when the shots were fired.

“Most people were just going to the ground trying to get out of the way,” Neicy Bates said. “I ran out (of the food truck) because I have kids and they were out here.

“People were just screaming. Some were trying to run away. There were cars leaving, trying not to hit each other.”

Walton, a Taft resident, said the town for decades has held a multi-day Memorial Day festival that usually lasts from Friday through Sunday with a parade on Monday.

She said not only do most of the 220 or so residents turn out, but also many people from all over the country.

“We are a small community. Everybody is family-based,” she said. “This did not come from our community. This came from people outside of our community.”

All remaining Memorial Day activities have been canceled in the town, including Monday’s parade.

Neicy Bates said her grandmother, Lelia Foley, who became the first Black female mayor in US history, when she was elected mayor of Taft in 1973, continued to organize the annual Memorial Day events.

The former mayor was up most of the night following the shootings, talking with residents and assisting authorities, Bates said.

“She’s devastated.”

Walton said Saturday night was her first night in business with her food truck.

“And this had to happen,” she said. In addition to food trucks, the outdoor event also featured a live DJ, residents said.

Taft, founded around 1902, is one of only 13 predominantly Black towns still existing in Oklahoma. The state once was home to more than 50, more than any other state.

Originally called Twine, the town was renamed Taft in 1905 after William Howard Taft, the statesman soon to become president.

Gov. Kevin Stitt on Sunday issued a statement on social mediasaying, “I am grateful for (OSBI)’s swift response to assist local police and am confident in Oklahoma law enforcement’s ability to bring justice to whoever is responsible for this deadly incident.”

Anyone at the event who witnessed the shooting is asked to contact the OSBI at 1-800-522-8017 or email [email protected].