Woman Slips Out Of Handcuffs And Shoots Cops With Their AR-15

A US woman who shot a police officer and a member of the public while freed from her handcuffs in the back of a police cruiser is now facing the possibility of life in jail.

According to authorities, they did this for her protection on August 12 after finding Rachel Zion Clay, 36, "crawling about on her hands and knees in a backyard and howling" in the Grady County region of Oklahoma.

(Image: NBC News)

Clay was able to escape her handcuffs while cops were interviewing witness Dale Moses for their report. She then reached into the console of the patrol car, where she discovered the gun release switch, and unlocked a police AR-15 rifle. The incident was caught on a dashcam from inside the car.

She then discharged about ten bullets, striking Moses and a deputy, neither of whom was seriously hurt.

(Image: NBC News)

After a three-and-a-half-hour standoff during which Clay barricaded herself inside the car and started shooting at the patrolmen, she eventually gave herself up after protracted discussions and the arrival of an armored truck.

Grady County Undersheriff Gary Boggess revealed: “While in the back seat of a patrol car, she was able to get her wrist free from the handcuffs and the handcuffs were put on properly.”

(Image: NBC News)

“There are several switches, one is a gun switch to unlock the gun lock and she found it, unlocked it, and was able to retrieve an AR-15 rifle.”

“Then she was able to figure out how to put a round in it, put it on fire and she fired approximately 10 rounds at our deputies and a civilian.”

She was apprehended after turning herself in, tested positive for methamphetamine, and is now facing three counts of shooting with the intent to murder charges. She is being jailed on a $1 million bond.

There were several notes discovered in the car, which demonstrated Clay's troubled mental state at the time.

As a result of the incident, Boggess is advising several safety measures, and she might now be sentenced to anything from two years to life in jail.

He said: “One, I will say, is our console where it said ‘gun’. She was able to see that. That’s going to be replaced. We’re going to put a switch someplace else in the vehicle to lock our gun.”

“It’s one of these… I’m not going to say one in a million, but you know, it’s one of those deals that, you know, once it happens, then you go back and try to make sure it never happens again.”