Published: December 28, 2007 11:46 pm         

Man shot 2 times not seriously hurt

A Meno man escaped serious injury Thursday night after he was shot twice by an unknown assailant along U.S. 412 between Lahoma and Meno.

Oben L. Ard, 43, was shot twice in the chest and left hand. Both bullets went clean through and did not hit any vital organs. He was kept overnight for observation at St. Mary’s Regional Medical Centery and was released Friday afternoon.

“Doctors said if the bullet in my chest had been a quarter inch in any direction, it would have been something serious,” he said.

Authorities continue to search for a suspect, said Stan Florence, an inspector with Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, which is investigating the shooting.

Ard said he was driving home from a meeting in Enid on U.S. 412 between Lahoma and Meno about 8:30 p.m. when he noticed a dark-colored Monte Carlo SS parked on the side of the road. He said he stopped behind the car and approached the driver’s side door, looking down as he asked the driver if he needed help.

“He muttered something underneath his breath, and then I noticed a pistol in his hand,” Ard said.

The man opened fire as Ard grabbed the pistol, he said. The first bullet went through his left hand, breaking it. The man then fired another shot, Ard said, that went through his chest and out his back.

Ard said he believes the man fired two more rounds as he ran back to his pickup. The gunman sped away, he said.

Ard said he tried to call 911 from his cell phone, but the signal kept failing. He then attempted to call his wife, but the signal failed again.

“I decided that I better go get help,” Ard said, “so I drove to Ampride.”

Authorities found him at the Ampride convenience store in Meno.

Florence said authorities do not have a description of the suspect and are uncertain if the Monte Carlo is a two-door or four-door version.

Ard said he didn’t see many other cars on the highway when the shooting occurred, but his sister, who works in Cherokee, did drive by and saw his truck on the side of the road.

“She just figured my truck was just on the side of the road,” he said. “She didn’t know anything had happened.”