Shooting justified as ‘lawful use of deadly force’

A shooting that happened in April north of Roland has been ruled as justified by the District Attorney’s office as “lawful use of deadly force” with no charges being filed against the shooter.

The Sequoyah County Sheriff’s Office reported the victim, Scott W. Martin, 43, was shot twice by Josh L. Bowling, 49, on April 29 after Martin arrived at his residence unannounced and was “talking out of his head,” according to an incident report.

Sequoyah County Sheriff’s Investigator Chris Grizzle reported at around 9 p.m. that evening he was dispatched to S. 4770 Road in Roland regarding the shooting. Grizzle met with Deputy Colton Goff and Roland Police officer Richard Seabolt, and another Roland officer stated the male victim was deceased minutes after arriving on the scene.

The gunshot victim was identified as Martin and the suspected shooter as Josh Bowling. Bowling reportedly lived at the scene of the shooting.

Grizzle and Investigator BR Rutherford then did a preliminary sweep of the scene where Grizzle reported seeing a male lying face down at the rear of a silver car that was reportedly in park and still running. Both investigators reported finding two 9mm Luger spent shell casings on one side of the deceased male, and the male’s wallet was found in the passenger side floorboard.

Rutherford said it appeared Martin had a single gunshot wound to the left side of his chest, which exited the right side and then entered his right arm, but there did not appear to be an exit wound.

Norvel Bowling said he witnessed the shooting firsthand along with his brother, Josh Bowling, Josh’s wife and their mother, who all live on the property. He said between 8 and 8:30 p.m. he received a call from his brother, Jonathan Bowling, stating there was a strange car at the residence. He said he also received a call from his mother, who told him the same thing.

Norvel Bowling said he drove his truck to his mother’s house and when he approached the door of the silver car, the male in the car (Martin) was speaking a different type of language that he referred to as “Sputnik,” and said he believed he was “high” or under the influence of something. He said Martin then attempted to hand him a card.

Norvel Bowling told authorities Martin was acting strangely and told him that his “sister was a neurologist and you cannot help me” before attempting to get out of the car. Martin then reportedly asked “do ya’ll want to fight” and got out. Norvel Bowling said he had a 4-way tire tool and when he raised it, he heard two pops and then Martin fell to the ground. He said he told Martin to stay down after he was shot.

Norvel Bowing claimed he’d never seen Martin before and didn’t know him, but that he’d seen the vehicle sitting stationary earlier in the day, and was fearful of Martin.

Josh Bowling said a male was parked in his driveway by his shop, laying on the horn and flashing his lights for about five minutes, before Jonathan approached the vehicle and asked Martin if he was okay. He said that was when Martin hit the window with his fist.

Josh Bowling said at that time, he told everyone to go inside and stay away from the vehicle. He said he loaded his firearm with five rounds and called the Sheriff’s Office to tell them there was a strange person at his residence, and that he was armed.

The car then reportedly backs up, pulls to the front, and goes to the other side of the house as Norvel Bowling pulls in. Josh Bowling said Norvel approached the vehicle and he could see Martin handing him a card and speaking what he believed to be Spanish. He said when Martin got out of the vehicle and ran toward Norvel, he shot him twice while still on the phone with Sequoyah County dispatch. He said he relinquished the firearm to Roland police when they arrived.

Jonathan Bowling told police he was at his brother’s house at around 8:30 p.m. when a silver car pulled into the driveway, with the driver (Martin) honking the horn and flashing the lights. He said he believed Martin appeared to be on drugs due to the fact he was “talking out of his mind” and rubbing his face. He said at one point, Martin punched the window of the vehicle and he told him to leave. He said he walked away and believed his brother or brother’s wife called police.

He said his mother’s husband, Michael Cross, asked what was going on and he told him he thought the man was “out of his mind.” He said when both men approached the vehicle, Martin opened the door and handed them a small truck containing flowers, similar to what someone might put on a gravestone. He said Martin then backed away and went to the other side of the property.

Cross reportedly followed Martin, and Jonathan Bowling said he thought the back lights of the car came on as if it were going to back out. He said that’s when Norvel arrived on the scene. He said Cross left and his mother, Judy Bowling, was nearby, so he told her to back up because he was afraid Martin would back out at a high rate of speed.

He said when Norvel tried to talk to Martin, Martin put the vehicle in park, got out and ran at Norvel as if to attack him. Jonathan Bowling said he couldn’t make out anything Martin was saying or see anything in his hands. He said Norvel Bowling was holding a 4-way lug wrench and wished his brother would have hit Martin, according to the report. He said he believed if Martin would have gotten to his brother, he would have hurt him.

He said when his brother shot Martin, Martin paused and then charged and lunged again, and that’s when his brother shot him a second time. He claimed although he didn’t know who Martin was, he did look familiar.

Grizzle spoke with Martin’s wife the following day. She said they were together earlier the day before and had been fighting. She claimed Martin was acting “crazy” due to a bi-polar condition he had, according to the report.

Martin’s father, Charles Martin, said he was told his son had pulled into Bowling’s driveway and was blowing his horn, but never rolled his window down. He said when Scott got out of the car, Norvel had a four-way lug wrench and was coming at Scott, but before he got there, Josh Bowing shot his son.

He also alleged Scott had a T-shirt machine and tablet in his car, and believes he was trying to sell the items to one of the Bowling’s. He said when he picked his son’s vehicle up from the tow yard, the items were not located in the car. He also claimed that Josh Bowling knew his son.

“Scott never met a stranger and always tried to lead them to the Lord,” Charles Martin said. “He would help anyone and share the word with them.”

He said Scott was a legend at Muldrow High School where he was known to show pigs and beatbox.

“He was fearless and always had a smile on his face,” he said.

He said he was told that the shooting was justified due to the “stand your ground (or a similar) law,” and a decision came about in July.

The District Attorney’s Office said they declined to file charges against Josh Bowling because the shooting was found to be “lawful use of deadly force.”