A pastor has been shot dead by police officers in Oklahoma in a shocking incident on Friday.
The married 35-year-old pastor was shot in some kind of confrontation with cops as they looked to rescue him and his brother from flood waters.
The incident happened after two Oklahoma Highway Patrol officers responded to an emergency call at about 9.30 p.m. local time on Friday to help a stranded motorist near Tulsa. The officers have said that they found Nehemiah Fischer, an assistant pastor at Faith Bible Church in Tulsa, and his bother, Brandon Fischer, 40, with two vehicles as they were attempting to move one from the roadway, which had been hit by flood waters.
Oklahoma Highway Patrol Capt. Paul Timmons reported that a confrontation occurred as the men were ordered to exit the vehicle and come to safety on higher ground. Timmons said that the brothers were "really upset" at being ordered to leave their vehicle behind in the water.
He said, "[The troopers] were trying to get them to come out of the water. They were worried about them getting swept away."
Timmons also reported that Nehemiah had a weapon, according to CNN, although he did not specify whether Nehemiah had gotten the weapon out, or even if the officers had seen the weapon prior to the shooting.
Other details of exactly what led to the shooting have not yet been released, but Nehemiah was pronounced dead at the scene, and Brandon was arrested for assault and public intoxication, according to Fox News.
Nehemiah's wife, Laura, has said she absolutely does not believe Nehemiah would ever have started any kind of altercation with the officers: "He was the nicest person I've ever met. He was very giving. He made me want to be a better person."
Mike Haesloop, a friend of the associate pastor, told The Guardian that the associate pastor was "not the kind of guy that's going to pull a gun on anybody.
"He's more one that's going to pray for you."
