Law enforcement in Lawton, Oklahoma, are trying to figure out who fired the shot that killed an Army sergeant in an early-morning bar shooting.
Sgt. Christopher Pugh — a 23-year-old member of the Army’s 1st Battalion, 14th Field Artillery Regiment — was shot in the back of the head slightly after 2:30 a.m. on Saturday, April 27, after an altercation at the K9 Motorcycle Club’s bar in Lawton spilled out into the parking lot and gunshots were fired, according to a news report by KSWO in Lawton.
Pugh was stationed at Fort Sill in Lawton after serving two tours in South Korea. His body was returned to his home in Tennessee on Tuesday.
1st Battalion confirmed his death in a Facebook post on May 1.
Weeks after his death, Lawton police were trying to identify potential suspects in Pugh’s killing.
“Something like that can go numerous ways as far as where he was shot at depending on what happened," Sgt. Timothy Jenkins, a public information officer with the Lawton Police Department, told Lawton’s ABC affiliate. "Whether it was off guard or a shot that was fired that maybe wasn’t even meant for him it was just by chance he was the one hit.
“So, hopefully through this homicide investigation we can sort those details out as to the reason why he got shot and where he got shot,” Jenkins continued. “What was the reason behind that?”
Pugh’s family is just as baffled about his killing as law enforcement.
“He’s just so loving, so kind, so giving,” Trinity Minter, his aunt, told Lawton’s ABC affiliate. “And that’s the way we’re going to remember him.”
Minter also said that right now she’s “trusting God” and has decided to “celebrate his life” while she and the rest of Pugh’s family mourn him.
If you have any information on Pugh’s death, you can submit an anonymous tip to the Lawton Police Department by calling Crime Stoppers at (580) 355-INFO.
