Two Oklahoma police officers were arrested after fatally shooting their 19-year-old daughter’s boyfriend and also attempting to shoot her, authorities say.
The married officers, Shannon Kepler, 54, and Gina Kepler, 48, were booked Tuesday night in the Tulsa County jail after Jeremy Lake was found shot to death on a street near downtown. Shannon faces first-degree murder and Gina was arrested on a complaint of accessory to murder.
Daughter and girlfriend to the victim, Lisa Kepler, was walking with Lake when her parents confronted him. Her father and Lake started arguing. Shortly after, Lake was dead.
“I walked away and Jeremy tried to introduce himself, and my dad shot him,” she told KJRH.
Lisa Kepler started to run, and was shot at, but the bullet missed. At a news conference on Wednesday, Kepler said that her parents had kicked her out of their home a week ago. They had dropped her in front of the Tulsa Day Center for the Homeless, where she had met Lake and they began dating. He offered her a place to stay at the home he shared with his aunt, she said.
“I don’t know what could have led them to do this,” she said. “They didn’t even know Jeremy.”
Lisa Kepler called the police to report the incident.
“I really hope they rot in prison for a very long time,” she told Tulsa World.
In a statement, Police Chief Chuck Jordan said that “the circumstances around this incident drives home the fact that domestic violence is a societal problem and transcends all economic groups.”
“I as well as the whole department am saddened for both families involved in this tragic event,” Jordan said.
The Keplers are still in custody and are being held without bail. Both have been placed on paid administrative leave.
SOURCE: Daily Mail, Tulsa World | VIDEO SOURCE: News Inc.
