Attorney Kevin Adams speaks to reporters during a press conference about the officer-involved shooting death of 16-year-old Logan Simpson on July 26, 2018. DYLAN GOFORTH/The Frontier

A Bixby teenager shot in the “left flank” by a police officer last weekend was not a threat at the time of the shooting, an attorney for the slain teen’s family said Thursday.

Logan Simpson, 16, was driving his own vehicle on Sunday when he was shot by a Bixby police officer who apparently thought the vehicle had been stolen, attorney Kevin Adams said during a press conference outside the Tulsa County District Courthouse.

Officers arrived at Simpson’s home on Sunday after the teen’s mother called police to report that her older son was being assaulted in the front yard, Adams told reporters.

Simpson’s father reportedly held the assailant down while waiting for police to arrive. Adams said Simpson left the house during the fracas, leaving some confusion about who had driven away in the vehicle.

“The (assailant) told the father that one of his homeboys had taken it,” Adams said. “So the family said it had been stolen.”

But Adams said the family quickly learned it was actually the 16-year-old Simpson who had taken the vehicle, and told police on the scene not to worry about it.

However, Adams said an officer still pursued the vehicle, eventually pinning Simpson down a dead end road. Simpson pulled into the front yard of a home, Adams said, then turned around to attempt to evade the pursuing officer.

It’s here that the stories diverge. The officer, whose identity was not released by Bixby Police, reportedly said the teen drove directly at him, attempting to use the vehicle as a weapon. Adams said tire tracks in a nearby yard show Simpson was attempting to drive around the officer.

Logan Simpson. Courtesy.

Adams also said that bullet holes in the side of Simpson’s vehicle, as well as the “left flank” location of the fatal gunshot, prove that the teenager was trying to get away rather than harm the officer.

“Not only does (the location of the gunshots) dispute that this vehicle was used as a weapon, it proves that it wasn’t,” Adams said.

Adams said he had not seen Simpson’s vehicle in person yet, but “from what (they) can tell,” there were no shots fired at the front of the vehicle.

Bixby police could not be reached for comment on Thursday. Tulsa County District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler said he had not yet received the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation’s report on the shooting and could not yet make a comment.

Logan Simpson’s mother Tiffany talks to reporters at a press conference July 26, 2018. DYLAN GOFORTH/The Frontier

Adams said he believed the officer who shot Simpson should be charged with a crime and said he was hopeful that the district attorney would eventually agree, noting Kunzweiler has charged other officers with crimes for on-duty shootings in the past.

Simpson’s mother, Tiffany, spoke briefly to reporters and thanked the Bixby community for support, before asking for time to “bury our son.”

“The bottom line,” Adams said, “is that Logan’s mother called for help, and help killed her son.”

Simpson was at least the 37th person shot by Oklahoma law enforcement this year, and at least the 22nd person to die as a result of an officer-involved shooting.

Fatal officer-involved shootings
January
1. Jonathan William Leroy, 39.
2. Geraldine Townsend, 72.
3. Jonathan Duane Atchley, 37.
4. Joseph E. Knight, 40.
5. Ricky Leon Rusche, 40.

February
6. William Patrick Young, 56.
7. Paul Strickland, 55.
8. Haydon Taylor, 26.

March
9. Mark Allen Lunn, 47.
10. Duane Preciado, 39.
11. John Domingues, 31
12. Jason Birt, 27.

April
13. Deshawn Carswell, 35.
14. James Rogers, 34
15. Justin Monjay, 39.

May
16. Franklin Robert Vaughn, 39.
17. Albert Odom, 26.
18. Bradley Daniel Webster, 53.
19. Daniel Timothy Johnson, 34.

June
20. Julio Hernandez Mata, 32.

July
21. Millard Clark Jr., 41.
22 Logan Simpson, 16.

Oklahoma officer-involved shootings in 2018