OFF THE WIRE
There was another Iron Order Motorcycle Club involved shooting last night, at the gas pumps of the Kickapoo Convenience Store near Harrah, Oklahoma. Harrah is about 25 miles east of Oklahoma City. The pumps are about a hundred yards from the Kickapoo Casino Harrah.
Shootings involving the Iron Order are becoming increasingly frequent. Three weeks ago, an Iron Order member and Colorado prison guard named Derrick “Kong” Duran murdered one member of the Mongols Motorcycle Club and seriously wounded another at the climax of an altercation at the Colorado Motorcycle Exposition in Denver. Duran, of Longmont, Colorado, is the vice-president of the Firestone, Colorado chapter of the Iron Order. He has not been charged with any crime which is typical of Iron Order shootings.
The Iron Order, which includes numerous sworn peace officers, trains members to use deadly force against members of other motorcycle clubs. Police officers within the club coach other members about what to say to investigating police officers after these shootings. The club has its own “Division of Legal Affairs.” The “Director” of that “Division” is a small town accident lawyer named John C. “Shark” Whitfield. Whitfield flies to the scenes of these crimes, speaks on behalf of the gunmen, lobbies local police, and makes exculpatory statements to the local press. He is good at it. Iron Order members typically explain to police that they are a “law abiding motorcycle club” with many police members and portray themselves as victims. It works.
What Happened
According to both local sources and local news accounts, last night’s shooting involved three men. Lincoln County Sheriff Charlie Dougherty told television station KWTV that all three men opened fire. One man, a member of the Oklahoma City based Rednecks Motorcycle Club, was shot in the leg. His injury is not life threatening.
According to a local source, as the Redneck passed “a group” of Iron Order riders on Oklahoma Route 62 one of those riders swerved out in front of the Redneck. The source believes that members of the Iron Order followed the Redneck to the gas pumps. According to Sheriff Dougherty, “A couple of them blocked off a guy and an altercation took place. And then from that point it became a gun battle.”
Aerial footage showed five motorcycles at the shooting scene. Two of the motorcycles were overturned.
The shooting is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, Lincoln and Pottawatomie County Sheriffs Deputies and Kickapoo Tribal Police.
