carlballou/iStockBy CHRISTINA CARREGA, ABC News
(TULSA, Okla.) — A veteran Tulsa, Oklahoma, police officer died Tuesday after a traffic stop went wrong.
Six weeks after Officer Aurash Zarkeshan completed training with the Tulsa Police Department, he made a regular traffic stop on East 21st Street early Monday morning, police said.
After Zarkeshan ran David Anthony Ware‘s information into the system, he called for backup.
Sargent Craig Johnson arrived at the scene.
Ware refused to comply with officers’ commands to step out of his car, said Tulsa Police Chief Wendell Franklin at a press conference on Monday.
Johnson displayed a stun gun and asked Ware to get out of the car 12 times before firing. Franklin said the stun gun was not effective and Zarkeshan also pepper-sprayed Ware.
A struggle ensued and Ware pulled out a gun and fired “several shots at close range,” striking both officers in the head, said Franklin.
“The driver slowly walked away from the vehicle and went to another car that was waiting for him,” Franklin said.
Both officers were taken to the hospital in critical condition.
Johnson, a 15-year veteran, died on Tuesday afternoon. He leaves behind a wife and two young sons.
His family was presented with a Purple Heart for his service in the line of duty.
Ware, 33, and his accomplice 29-year-old Matthew Hall were arrested.
Prosecutors added first-degree murder to Ware’s case on Tuesday in addition to two counts of shooting with intent to kill and criminal possession of a weapon charges. Hall faces accomplice to murder and accomplice to felony charges.
Ware is expected to appear before a judge on Thursday and Hall is expected in court on September 2, according to online records.
They are both being held without bond in Tulsa County jail, according to online records.
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