MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA — This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF)), published as received.

MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announced that Runningbear Pettit, 24, of Bunch, Oklahoma, was sentenced to 21 months in prison for one count of Assault with a Dangerous Weapon with Intent to Do Bodily Harm, and to 120 months in prison for one count of Use, Carry, Brandish, and Discharge of Firearm During A Crime of Violence.  The court ordered the terms to be served consecutively.

The charges arose from an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Cherokee Nation Marshal Service, and the Stilwell Police Department.

On June 9, 2025, Pettit pleaded guilty to the charges in federal district court. According to investigators, on January 30, 2025, Stilwell officers responded to an emergency call of shots fired at a Stilwell residence.  Witnesses reported that Pettit opened fire on the residence with a semi-automatic rifle.  The bullets penetrated the exterior of the building, striking and injuring an occupant.  Law enforcement arrested Pettit a short time later, and Pettit confessed to the shooting.

The crimes occurred in Adair County, within the boundaries of the Cherokee Nation Reservation, in the Eastern District of Oklahoma.

This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.

The Honorable Ronald A. White, Senior Judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, presided over the hearing.  Pettit will remain in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service pending transportation to a designated United States Bureau of Prisons facility to serve a non-paroleable sentence of incarceration.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lewis M. Reagan and Edith A. Singer represented the United States.