James E. Stutchman, 28, of Okmulgee, Oklahoma, died in the early hours of March 6, 2014, after an officer-involved shooting that began with a routine traffic stop. Shortly after 2 a.m., an Okmulgee officer attempted to stop the SUV Stutchman was driving at 4th Street and Woodlawn. Rather than stop, the vehicle fled, pursued through residential streets until it left the roadway, crossed onto the Turning Leaf Apartments grounds and crashed through fencing. The chase ended in the 1300 block of East 1st Street after the SUV plowed through a chain-link and iron gate and became disabled near rear brick units.

Officers closed in and Stutchman exited the vehicle holding a handgun. The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation took over, processed the scene, interviewed residents and prepared a report for the district attorney. Apartment management said Stutchman did not live at the complex. Social media and memorials remember him as a young father called Smoke; contemporaneous reports noted he worked at a Sonic drive-in and had prior run-ins with the law. No coverage indicates any officer was arrested or criminally charged in connection with his death.