A Garvin County man is dead after leading police on a high-speed chase and barricading himself in his home east of Pauls Valley Friday.
Authorities believe the man, identified as 32-year-old Derek Davidson, died as the result of a pipe bomb explosion during the standoff, according to Garvin County Sheriff Jim Mullett, who provided information during a local press conference Friday evening.
Mullett said the pursuit began just after 10 a.m. Friday when Pauls Valley Police attempted to pull Davidson's vehicle over for a traffic stop near the Garvin County Courthouse. Davidson failed to stop, according to police, leading officers on a high-speed pursuit through Pauls Valley city streets before heading north on Interstate 35 to Kimberlin Road. From there, he drove back toward State Highway 77 and then through county roads to a residence on North County Road 3260 (City Lake Road).
“This individual tried to crash into the vehicles. At one time, he even tried to head-on one of the deputies. Public safety was an issue,” Mullett said.
Once at the residence, Davidson fled inside. Pauls Valley Police Officers and Garvin County Sheriff’s Deputies initially followed Davidson toward the residence, according to Mullett, but backed out when they saw him pick up what they believed was a firearm.
At that point Davidson barricaded himself in the home.
“During that time, we tried to negotiate him out of the house,” Mullett said. “He wouldn’t come out.”
Learning Davidson was Native American, the Sherriff’s Office contacted Chickasaw Lighthorse Police, who deployed a tactical team to the location.
During the standoff, Mullett said law enforcement officers were in communication with Davidson, who refused to leave the residence.
The Lighthorse tactical team deployed “gas agents” into the house, followed by a drone, which Mullett said Davidson destroyed.
Shortly after, officers on scene heard a small explosion inside the residence, according to Mullett.
The Lighthorse tactical team deployed a robot into the home, at which point they found Davidson dead.
“It appears that a pipe bomb, or some kind of device, had exploded which took his life,” Mullett said.
Law enforcement pulled back and nearby residences were evacuated as the Oklahoma Highway Patrol Bomb Squad was requested to clear the area.
“When they were able to get to the house they found out there were secondary devices,” Mullett said. “They also said the house was ‘trapped’ so that those devices would go off if we had entered the house.”
Mullett said the home has now been searched and cleared by the OHP bomb squad, and there is no continuing threat to nearby residences or the public. None of the law enforcement officers involved sustained serious injuries, according to Mullett.
The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation has been asked to take over the investigation into what took place, and their crime scene team was onsite Friday night. They will try to determine what caused the explosion and whether it was an intentional act by the subject or something else, Mullett said.
“We’ve got a lot of investigation to go, obviously. Those items will be collected and analyzed and hopefully we’ll get an answer as to whether it was self-destructive or if it was accidentally taken,” Mullett said. “We’ve got a lot of unanswered questions right now.”
Watch the full press conference here.
