A 26-year-old woman was shot multiple times after grabbing a Nazi flag from an Oklahoma man’s yard on an early-morning dare over the weekend, according to authorities in Hunter, Okla.
Police say the woman was at a party early Sunday when she accepted a dare to capture one of multiple swastika-emblazoned flags flying outside a home across the street. The woman managed to grab a flag but was shot multiple times on her way back to the party, according to Garfield County Sheriff Jody Helm.
“On the way back someone hollered ‘gun,'” Helm told local station KFOR. “She dropped the flag at the end of the driveway and shots were fired.”
Sheriff’s deputies arrived at the scene to find the woman lying in a ditch at about 3 a.m. She had been shot four times with a rifle, authorities said.
The woman was rushed to hospital for surgery and is expected to recover, authorities told the local Enid News & Eagle newspaper on Monday.
Homeowner Alexander John Feaster, 44, was arrested without incident on complaints of shooting with the intent to kill and assault and battery with a deadly weapon. Sheriff’s deputies also seized a trove of weapons from his home.
“We recovered the suspect’s rifle and we got about 14 guns out of there and some ammunition,” Helm said.
He is being held without bond, according to reports.
Multiple neighbours said Feaster had been flying the flags outside his home for some time, although they’d never seen any violent encounters involving the home before. All of them spoke to local news outlets on the condition that they not be identified.
“No one likes the flags hanging over there but there’s not much you can do about it,” a neighbour told local station News 9. “But I’m not going to judge anyone for trying to go take them down either.”
One neighbour told KFOR Feaster would occasionally dress up in a black uniform with a red swastika-emblazoned armband — a description reminiscent of the old Nazi SS uniforms. The neighbour added that Feaster kept to himself but would cut other people’s grass.
“He’s been mowing neighbours’ yards and just smiling and waving at everyone,” the individual said.
They added that Feaster had been flying his Nazi flags for about a year, and that they’d been snatched from his home a few times in the past.
Another woman and friend of the victim also said there had been no past issues with Feaster, but said his flags were problematic.
“I feel like these flags are a disaster waiting to happen,” she told the News & Eagle. She also asked not to be identified.
The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation is helping with the case, Helm said. The investigation is ongoing.