Oklahoma prison escapee fatally shot by law officers

PINK, Okla. – An Oklahoma prison inmate who walked away from a halfway house in December was fatally shot by law officers.

Pottawatomie County Sheriff Mike Booth said 40-year-old Ricky Rusche was shot Tuesday by officers at a home in Pink, about 25 miles (40 kilometres) southeast of Oklahoma City. He says it isn’t known yet why the officers shot Rusche.

State Department of Corrections spokesman Matt Elliott says Rusche walked away from the Carver Transitional Center in Oklahoma City in December. Online court records show he was charged Jan. 5 with escape.

The Carver centre is to help inmates nearing the end of their sentences to reintegrate into the community.

Court records show Rusche was convicted in 2016 of embezzlement, unauthorized use of a vehicle and making a false declaration of ownership to a pawn shop.