A Week of Terror in Oklahoma Ends With a Shootout

The police updated suspect's wanted poster to say "deceased."

ByABC News
October 31, 2016, 2:17 PM

— -- Oklahoma outlaw Michael Vance, who became the subject of a weeklong manhunt after he allegedly went on a rampage that left two dead and four wounded, was killed in a shootout with police overnight.

His week on the lam was frightening for Oklahoma residents worried that an alleged armed killer could turn up at their door any moment.

Here's how the week played out:

Sunday, Oct. 23, evening

At around 6:30 p.m., police in Wellston, Oklahoma, near Oklahoma City, responded to a call about shots fired at a property owned by a man named Tony Heavner.

There, the officers encountered Michael Vance, 38, who allegedly shot first at officers who then returned fire. A gun battle ensued, leaving two officers, Shawn Stewart and Jimmy Hampton, injured. Hampton suffered a gunshot to his foot and Stewart was shot several times in his legs, neither with life-threatening injuries, authorities said.

Vance was also reportedly shot in the gunfight but managed to get away.

He allegedly went to a mobile home park where he stole a Lincoln Town Car at gunpoint from a man named Jonathan Chouinard and shot a woman in the thigh, authorities said.

Sunday, Oct. 23, night

Later, Vance allegedly went to the home of two relatives, Ronald and Valerie Kay Wilkson, whom he killed in horrific fashion.

Ron Wilkson, 55, was shot and had stab wounds on his neck that were "consistent with an attempt to sever his head," Oklahoma County Sheriff's Deputy Michael Belanger wrote in an arrest affidavit. Valerie Kay Wilkson, 54, had similar neck wounds along with defensive wounds on her arms.

A large knife covered in blood was retrieved from inside the home, authorities said, along with a bloodstained shirt and shell casings that investigators said are typical to an AK-47-style assault rifle.

After a relative of the Wilkson family contacted an Oklahoma County Sheriff's deputy, police found the missing Lincoln and, by using a bomb robot, discovered the dead bodies.

They did not find Vance, who is believed to have escaped that night in a 2007 Silver Mitsubishi Eclipse that belonged to the Wilksons and to have headed West across the state.

Monday, Oct. 24, early morning

Investigators believe that Vance livestreamed two videos on Facebook Live while he was fleeing. The videos started to circulate on social media overnight. In one of them, Vance appears in a blood-covered shirt and says he's been shot before showing a rifle on the seat next to him.

"Letting y'all know, look, this is real," he said in the video, according to the Associated Press. "If you want to know what's up next, stay tuned to your local news."

Vance is charged Monday in Oklahoma County with two counts of first-degree murder, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and possession of a firearm after a felony.

But he isn't there. He has traveled to Sayre in western Oklahoma, where police believe he arrived a little after 2:30 a.m. when the Wilksons' car was spotted at a truck stop.

A wanted poster is issued for Vance that circulates throughout on traditional and social media on Monday.

Sunday, October 30, Night

After a week of hiding, Vance is found, and engages in a second shootout with authorities.

This time, he does not survive the encounter.

Police confirmed that a Dewey County sheriff’s deputy was injured in the incident on Sunday night but is expected to survive.

The shootout occurred after a car matching the description of one Vance allegedly stole was spotted near a campsite north of the town of Hammon in a rural part of western Oklahoma.

In a Facebook post, the Oklahoma County Sheriff's Office updated the widely publicized wanted poster of Vance to read "DECEASED" in block letters.

"This evening, we were informed double homicide suspect Michale Dale Vance was killed near Leedey in Dewey County. The Dewey County Sheriff was also injured during a confrontation with the suspect. The Dewey County Sheriff's injuries are non life threatening. We will post new information as we receive it," the post declared.

ABC News' JJ Gallagher contributed to this report.