A man was shot and killed early this morning by a Pauls Valley police officer.
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Authorities say the Jeremy Scott Beasley, 31, drew shots at about 2:15 a.m. after he charged an officer with a kitchen knife and then pinned him to the ground.
The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigations will study the incident and report to a district attorney, who ultimately will decide if the shots and the death were justified.
The two officers involved have been placed on paid leave until that investigation is complete, and until they are mentally fit to work again, said Pauls Valley Police Chief Dennis Madison.
Madison said police were called by Beasley's sister-in-law, who apparently was frightened when she saw Beasley dragging his wife out of the front door of their home.
When police arrived, Beasley ran into the kitchen to grab a knife. He then charged at one of the officers, said Jessica Brown, spokeswoman for the OSBI, and an officer responded by firing several shots.
The altercation continued outside the house, at 315 S Walnut Street. Police say Beasley pinned a police officer to the ground while still holding the knife. Several more shots were fired, and Beasley was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
One of the police officers was treated in a local hospital for minor injuries, Madison said. He had scratches on his knees and cut on his thumb.
Madison declined to release the names of the two officers involved.
He defended the shooting, saying it was necessary to save the lives of the two police officers, and those of three women who were in a nearby living room at the time of the shooting.
"I'm proud of the way my officers acted because they went home to their families tonight," he said.
Court records show Beasley pled guilty in 2006 to charges of domestic assault and battery, in the presence of a minor child, and resisting an officer.
