OKLAHOMA CITY — Michael Dale Vance Jr. was never going to go quietly.

After a weeklong manhunt, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol released video footage from Vance’s final firefight with law enforcement officers Sunday night. The violent video collection, compiled from dash and helicopter cameras, does not include gore, but shows officers shooting and killing the 38-year old near Leedey, Oklahoma — about 30 miles from the Texas border —following a high speed chase.

“Loss of life is always unfortunate,” Oklahoma Department of Public Safety Commissioner Michael C. Thompson said during a press conference Tuesday in Oklahoma City. “It didn’t have to be that way.”

After receiving a tip at about 2:50 p.m. Sunday, officers established a perimeter near Hammon, Oklahoma, where Vance’s stolen Mitsubishi was spotted. As officers closed in on Vance’s location, he fled.

Dewey County Sheriff Clay Sander attempted to pull over a “farm truck” — later believed to have been stolen by Vance — at about 9:30 p.m. Sunday after noticing a loose chain trailing behind the truck and creating sparks on the road.

Sander was shot in the ensuing firefight, and Vance fled.

Officers reestablished Vance’s location via helicopter at about 9:47 p.m. and three squad cars joined the final pursuit.

Vance blasted his truck southbound through a roadblock on a “cemetery road,” about a mile west of Butler.

The double murder suspect fired two 30-round magazines from an AK-47. Officers exchanged fire with Vance while in pursuit. Trooper Brian Costanza responded with fire from a fully-automatic M4, blasting rounds through his own windshield while in pursuit.

“Most gun battles, two or three shots are exchanged. Obviously, that was not the case here,” Oklahoma Highway Patrol Chief Ricky Adams said. “These officers were extremely brave, literally running toward the fire.”

Vance came to a stop, exited and put the truck in reverse, using it as rolling cover.

Captain Brent Sugg said Vance “used the vehicle as a means of cover and concealment, similar to the bank robbers of the 90s.”

“I would expect that from someone who commits murders and shoots at police officers,” he said.

A few seconds after he left his vehicle, Vance was shot and killed in the darkness of the two-lane country road. Officers continued to fire as there was no visual confirmation that Vance had ceased shooting at them.

Vance had been shot twice last week. Officers suspected that he could have died as a result of those wounds. This time, they were sure.

Five veteran officers fired shots Sunday night. None were injured, but Vance’s shots nearly found their mark many times. Gaping bullet holes above Trooper Constanza’s driver side headlight and his busted driver’s side spotlight are reminders of what could have been.

“For all of us in law enforcement, Michael Vance was our worst case scenario,” Thompson said. “He had no regard for public life and he had nothing to lose.”

Thompson said Vance could have surrendered peacefully, even after his “rampage in Wellston.”

This was nothing new for Vance. In a week’s time, he is accused of shooting a woman and stealing her car, killing and attempting to behead relatives Robert and Valerie Kay Wilkson in Luther, Oklahoma, and shooting multiple people in Lincoln County, including two Wellston police officers.

He is also accused of shooting a man during an attempted car theft Monday at a gas station in Sayre, Oklahoma. Court records show Vance was set to appear in court Nov. 7 in connection with a previously filed child sexual abuse felony.

Director of Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation Stan Florence said last week was unprecedented in many ways, but noted that catching Vance was a team effort that built on cooperation between many agencies, including the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, U.S. Marshals Service, FBI and local law enforcement.

Florence said the public played a large part, as well, by delivering tips to law enforcement.

“This is what the face of law enforcement cooperation looks like,” Oklahoma County Sheriff John Whetsel said. “In 48 years of law enforcement, I have never seen the level of cooperation that I’ve seen this week. I could not be prouder.

“For those brave men and women who put themselves in the actual line of fire Sunday night, they are heroes. They will go down as heroes and we’re thankful that none lost their lives.”

With heavy emotion emanating from his quiet demeanor, Wellston Police Chief Tim Estes said it has been a tough time for the small town and the state.

“It’s just been a tremendous week,” he said. “You never dream anything like this would happen. This man was out there and we didn’t know where he was, but he got caught in Oklahoma. This man made his own choices and he got caught.”

Burke writes for The Norman, Oklahoma Transcript.