Former area EMT shot, killed in OKC

A former chief of the Lifeguard Emergency Medical Service which now serves the Weatherford area was fatally shot at 6:05 p.m. Sunday at a 7-Eleven convenience store in southwest Oklahoma City.
The victim was Jessie Marion Myers, 43. Oklahoma City police said he was shot while inside his vehicle and died at an area hospital as a result of the shooting.
Following a short vehicle pursuit, OKC police arrested Eric Deon Hardesty, 52, as a suspect in the killing. After shooting Myers, he also allegedly shot a woman, Chiquita Jones, 34, and stole her vehicle. He was allegedly driving it when he was caught and arrested a short time later approximately three miles from the store, which was located at 7424 S. Walker just off Interstate 240, which is the Dallas bypass from I-40.
Ms. Jones survived but was listed later in critical condition. Hardesty also allegedly shot at a store attendant, but that bullet missed and the attendant was not hurt.
All involved – the suspect as well as the two victims and the store clerk – were Oklahoma City residents.
Master Sgt. Gary Knight of the OKC Police Department said Myers was shot first, after which the shooter walked inside the store and shot at the clerk. Knight said the shooter then walked back outside and shot Ms. Jones, who had just pulled onto the parking lot, though a window of her car.
Knight said Hardesty pulled her out of the car and drove off in it. He was caught in the 4900 block of S. Ollie Avenue following a short pursuit.
Taken to police headquarters, he was interviewed briefly by homicide detectives before being booked into jail on complaints of first-degree murder, shooting with intent to kill, robbery, and illegally possessing a firearm.
Television station KFOR (Channel 4) reported that Hardesty has a history of child abuse and forgery convictions, along with traffic violations.
“There is no known relationship between the gunman and any of his victims,” said a press release issued by the OKC Police Department.
Court records indicate witnesses told police Myers was shot after the gunman demanded his keys, and apparently did not get them.
They say Hardesty then went inside the store, yelling “where are the keys?” He next shot at the clerk but missed, then went back outside just as Ms. Jones was pulling onto the parking lot.
“He ended up shooting her and pulling her out of the vehicle, and driving off in her vehicle,” Sergeant Knight is quoted as saying.
Channel 4 said Myers was a paramedic who was a regular at the store where the shootings occurred. The TV station said he died several hours after the shooting.
He reportedly is survived by a wife and three daughters.
His former employer, Lifeguard Ambulance Service, LLC, of Birmingham, Ala., was contracted by the City of Weatherford to provide ground ambulance transportation services beginning Dec. 1, 2016. The company also serves the towns of Corn and Hydro.