Sallisaw man could face up to 20 years for discharging firearm

A Sallisaw man is facing a felony charge of discharging firearm and a criminal misdemeanor charge of public intoxication after he allegedly fired several rounds into a local establishment north of Sallisaw.

Nathaniel L. Smith, 26, was charged Dec. 6 in Sequoyah County District Court and received a $3,500 bond. He is now scheduled for a Jan. 4, 2023, arraignment before Associate District Judge Kyle Waters.

Sequoyah County Sheriff’s deputy Cody Parkerson said on Nov. 26 he was called to an establishment on Hwy. 59 about 1:19 a.m. after a verbal argument reportedly turned into shots fired.

The deputy reported finding Smith standing in the middle of the highway and screaming at people in the parking lot of the establishment. He also saw a woman shoving Smith across the road, according to the probable cause affidavit.

The deputy unholstered his taster and asked Smith to stand in front of his patrol unit but Smith continued to scream at the other parties. After asking him a second time, Smith reportedly ignored the deputy and walked away, while continuing to yell at the other parties.

When Smith got to the opposite side of the highway, Parkerson instructed him to turn around and place his hands behind his back and when Sallisaw Police officer Cody Biles arrived, he and Parkerson were able to take Smith into custody.

The female told authorities she and Smith were walking across the road to their residence from the establishment when two to three men started screaming at Smith. She said she told the men she was taking Smith home and to go back inside, according to the affidavit, but the men continued to scream at Smith to come back over and fight. The female said she got Smith inside the residence but he walked back out into the road, and that was when police arrived on the scene.

Parkerson asked the woman if Smith had fired a weapon and she said he had fired only once in the backyard of the residence.

Two other witnesses told the deputy they were in the parking lot of the establishment about to leave when Smith came out and began yelling at them, stating he was going “to kill them both,” according to the affidavit in the case. The witnesses said Smith went into his residence and came out with a handgun, allegedly firing three rounds.

Smith told Parkerson he and the female were walking to his residence when he and one of the witnesses got into a verbal argument. Smith said he kept walking toward his home when another party said “he needed to get across the road or he would be assaulted.” Smith said he felt like the four men were going to try to jump him so he went inside and retrieved his handgun and fired two rounds into the ground.

Smith said he then handed the gun to the female and the verbal argument continued. He said the men never came onto his property during the incident and described the gun as a .40 caliber Smith and Wesson handgun.

The handgun was retrieved by another deputy and Smith was transported to the Sequoyah County Detention Center on his charges.

District Attorney Jack Thorp said felony discharging firearm is punishable by imprisonment for not less than two years more more than 20 years, if convicted.