Deputies and emergency management personnel searching for a missing child believed to be in danger heard a gunshot on April 13, 2026, near the area they were covering in the 10700 block of South 353rd East Avenue. The drone helping with the search quickly showed where the shot came from, officials said, and that led them to Drucel Hall.
Officials said Hall admitted to firing the gun and told them he had prior authorization to shoot at drones. Deputies told him that firing at an aircraft, including an unmanned aerial system, is a serious criminal offense. Hall was taken into custody, charged with reckless discharge of a firearm, and booked into the Wagoner County Detention Center before later being released on bond.
Wagoner County Sheriff Chris Elliot said deputies and emergency management personnel were actively working to locate a missing juvenile believed to be in danger when the gunfire happened. The search involved an Emergency Management drone, a tool meant to help responders find missing people quickly and safely, and the sheriff said that is exactly why the shot was so serious.
“Our deputies and emergency management personnel were actively working to locate a missing juvenile believed to be in danger when this reckless act occurred,” Elliot said. “Firing at a drone that is clearly being used in an emergency response is not only dangerous, it’s a serious criminal offense. These tools are critical to helping us locate missing persons quickly and safely. Actions like this put lives at risk and will not be tolerated.”
The case now turns on the same fact that made the search urgent in the first place: a child was missing, believed to be in danger, while first responders were trying to find that child from the air and on the ground. Hall’s arrest closed one danger, but the broader public-safety risk remained plain enough for deputies to say it out loud — shooting at a drone during a rescue search can put the people behind the search at risk too.
