The 2021 Muskogee shooting was a

mass murder Mass murder is the act of murdering a number of people, typically simultaneously or over a relatively short period of time and in close geographic proximity. The United States Congress defines mass killings as the killings of three or more pe ...

that occurred in

Muskogee, Oklahoma Muskogee () is the thirteenth-largest city in Oklahoma and the county seat of Muskogee County. Home to Bacone College, it lies approximately southeast of Tulsa. The population of the city was 36,878 as of the 2020 census, a 6.0 percent decrease ...

, United States, on February 2, 2021, when a gunman opened fire at a house. The shooter killed six people—a man and five children—and a woman was seriously injured.

Law enforcement Law enforcement is the activity of some members of government who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by discovering, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules and norms governing that society. The term en ...

responded to the residence at 1:30 a.m. CST. A male suspect was taken into custody after he was briefly pursued on foot by police officers, but a

motive Motive(s) or The Motive(s) may refer to: * Motive (law) Film and television * Motives (film), ''Motives'' (film), a 2004 thriller * The Motive (film), ''The Motive'' (film), 2017 * Motive (TV series), ''Motive'' (TV series), a 2013 Canadian TV ser ...

is yet undetermined and no other suspects are involved. The a request to delay the trial for murder was heard by a judge in early 2023. It is the deadliest mass shooting in Oklahoma since the 1986

Edmond post office shooting The Edmond post office shooting was a mass shooting that occurred in Edmond, Oklahoma, on August 20, 1986. In less than fifteen minutes, postal worker Patrick Sherrill pursued and shot several coworkers, killing 14 and injuring another six, befo ...

Incident

At around 1:30 a.m., officers responded to reports of a shooting at the home where Javarion Lee and his family lived. There, they encountered an armed man.

Victims

The deceased were Javarion Lee, 24 years old, and his five nieces and nephews, who ranged in age from one to nine years. They included the brother, nieces, and nephews of the shooter. The children's mother survived but suffered serious injuries, and she was airlifted to a local hospital. Three other children at the house during the shooting were uninjured.

Accused

The accused was identified by law enforcement as 25-year-old Jarron Deajon Pridgeon (born March 21, 1995), who lived occasionally with Lee and his family. Pridgeon was previously charged with assault and battery in 2019 after he threw concrete at a woman. He pleaded guilty and was placed on probation for three years. He was also ordered to undergo an evaluation by a state mental health expert to identify a potential cause for his actions. Court charges for the prosecution of the shooting included "possession of a firearm after a felony conviction," suggesting Pridgeon somehow acquired a weapon despite his criminal record.

Trial

In August 2021, Pridgeon was charged with six counts of first-degree murder in

Muskogee County Muskogee County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2010 census, the population was 70,990. The county seat is Muskogee. The county and city were named for the Muscogee (Creek) Nation.death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

. His

deferred sentence A deferred sentence is a sentence that is suspended until after a defendant has completed a period of probation. If the defendant fulfills the stipulations surrounding probation, a judge may then throw out the sentence and guilty plea, clearing th ...

for his prior assault was accelerated, meaning Pridgeon was sentenced to begin serving the 10 year sentence for his earlier conviction immediately for violating his plea agreement. In 2022, the ''

Muskogee Phoenix The ''Muskogee Phoenix'' is a daily newspaper published in Muskogee, Oklahoma, United States, covering several counties of northeastern Oklahoma. It is owned by Community Newspaper Holdings Inc. The paper is printed five days a week (Tuesday-Satu ...

'' sued for a public copy of the trial hearing transcripts, and the court reporter was initially fined for

contempt Contempt is a pattern of attitudes and behaviour, often towards an individual or a group, but sometimes towards an ideology, which has the characteristics of disgust and anger. The word originated in 1393 in Old French contempt, contemps, ...

for failing to provide the transcript; however, the court reporter was later revealed to have been in

hospice care Hospice care is a type of health care that focuses on the palliation of a terminally ill patient's pain and symptoms and attending to their emotional and spiritual needs at the end of life. Hospice care prioritizes comfort and quality of life by ...

and the charges were dropped. The trial was initially set to begin in November 2023, but was delayed to May 2024. Pridgeon plead not guilty by reason of insanity.

Response

Grief counseling was provided for students at local schools that some of the deceased children attended. Counseling was also offered to police officers who had responded to the scene. Mayor Marlon Coleman announced that he would sign a proclamation to establish March as "Community Care Month for First Responders" shortly after the shooting. Clergy groups in Muskogee led an effort to establish a monetary fund to help support the mother of the child victims, and they were assisted by the mayor's office.

References

2021 in Oklahoma 2021 mass shootings in the United States Deaths by firearm in Oklahoma February 2021 crimes in the United States Mass shootings in Oklahoma Mass shootings in the United States Home shooting {{Oklahoma-stub