(From U. S. Marshals Midwest Violent Fugitive Task Force)
On September 25, Deputy U.S. Marshals and Springfield Police Officers arrested
Tulsa homicide suspect Nicholas Joseph Gibson following a traffic stop in east Springfield.
Gibson and associate Ruth Blair were the subject of an extended standoff and manhunt by U.S. Marshals
and the Springfield Police Department Special Response Team on September 24.
Blair was arrested by officers
on Tuesday evening, while Gibson remained at large.
On September 25, investigators from the U.S. Marshals Service – Midwest Fugitive Task Force and the
Springfield Police Department learned Gibson had been sighted in Springfield. This tip led officers to east
Battlefield Road where Gibson was stopped in a vehicle.
Deputy U.S. Marshals and Springfield Police Officers
arrested Gibson without further incident.
On August 21, Nicholas Gibson was charged with Felony Murder-First Degree in Oklahoma, in a case
investigated by the Tulsa Police Department. Also charged were his two associates, Leanna Roacher and Ruth
Blair.
The charges stemmed from a July 27 shooting in Tulsa. Roacher was previously arrested in this case.
“These two fugitives were interstate outlaws who tried to hide from their violent crimes by fleeing across
state lines”, said U.S. Marshal Mark James of the Western District of Missouri.
“These arrests represent an
outstanding collaborative effort between the U.S. Marshals and our law enforcement partners in Southwest
Missouri”, said James.
The arrest of Gibson and Blair were the result of an extended fugitive investigation by U.S. Marshals
Service fugitive task forces in Tulsa and Springfield, along with the Tulsa Police Department, Springfield Police
Department, Christian County Sheriff’s Office, and the Greene County Sheriff’s Office.
The U.S. Marshals Midwest Violent Fugitive Task Force—Springfield Division, operates in conjunction
with members of the Greene County Sheriff’s Office, the Christian County Sheriff’s Office, the Springfield Police
Department, and the Joplin Police Department. The task force objectives are to seek out and arrest fugitives
charged with violent crimes, drug offenses, sex offenders and other serious felonies. Nationally the United States
Marshals Service fugitive programs are carried out with local law enforcement in 94 district offices, 67 local
fugitive task forces, 8 regional task forces, as well as a growing network of offices in foreign countries.
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