Norman Hostage Situation Ends Peacefully, Suspect In Custody

Monday, November 10th 2014, 1:47 pm

By: News 9

The hostage situation in Norman has come to a peaceful conclusion as police took the suspect in custody around 4:45 p.m. on Monday.

The entire ordeal at the Nextep building, located at 1800 N. Interstate Drive, lasted just over four hours. Norman police responded to the scene just before 12:30 p.m. Nextep is an employer services company.

Police have identified the suspect as 29-year-old Devin Rogers. So far, police have not said what might have motivated Rogers.

Rogers was booked into the Cleveland County Detention Center just before 1 a.m. Tuesday. No bond amount has been set for him.

Multiple police units responded to the call along with the Norman SWAT team. A large number of people were evacuated from the building at approximately 1:16 p.m.

Police confirmed that Rogers was armed with a pistol when he entered the Farzaneh Law Firm, on the second floor of the Nextep building, and held three hostages, two of whom have been identified as Jennifer McMinn Shokat and Daymon Capers.

Eventually, Rogers requested Cleveland County District Attorney Greg Mashburn, who worked out an arrest deal with Rogers.

Upon that deal, the hostages were released and able to be back with family while Rogers was taken into custody.

David Blair, a paralegal with the Farzaneh Law Firm spoke with News 9 and said he was in contact with Shokat. Blair said that Shokat told him the suspect claimed to be a 10-year Iraq war veteran. Blair said the woman told him she was ‘OK', and that the suspect was allowing her to use her phone.

Shokat is a paralegal with the firm, and Daymon Capers is the firm's operations manager. The third hostage has not been identified at this time.

District Attorney Greg Mashburn told News 9 he does not know why Rogers came to the building. Mashburn said he has had no prior dealings with him and News 9 could not find any past arrests for Rogers in Cleveland or Oklahoma Counties. Rogers was transported to the City of Norman Investigations Center.

All roads in the surrounding neighborhoods were closed while authorities worked to secure the scene. Traffic on the southbound side of I-35 was also slowed due to curious motorists.

Bright Start Early Education Center, located just south of Nextep, was placed on lockdown as a precaution to this incident. Community Christian School was also put on lockdown because of the situation.

Norman Police released the following statement regarding Monday's hostage situation:

"The suspect in today's hostage situation at 1800 N. Interstate Drive has identified himself as Devin Rogers, age 29. Investigators will attempt to confirm his identity and answer many other questions associated with the incident as they proceed through their inquiry this evening. Since tomorrow is a holiday, formal criminal charges are not expected to be filed by the District Attorney's Office until Wednesday."