A man at a drug rehabilitation facility near Fort Gibson is dead after a Cherokee County Sheriff's deputy was forced to shoot him, said Cherokee County Undersheriff Jason Chennault.

The man allegedly stabbed at least three people at the facility — Faith Based Therapeutic Community Corporation — by the time deputies arrived. They were taken by Muskogee County Emergency Medical Service to EASTAR Health System, Chennault said.

Chennault did not know the condition of the stabbing victims. 

"I know they are serious enough they went by ambulance to the hospital," he said.

One of the people injured had life-threatening injuries, and another had non-life threatening injuries, a Muskogee County EMS spokeswoman said. If there was a third person injured, they may have been transported by another agency.

Dispatchers received the initial call about the stabbings at 7:29 p.m.

"When we got here, the suspect had run off into the back of the property, which has a lot of outbuildings," Chennault said. "He was found in an outbuilding. He wouldn't put the knife down, and when he would not comply, we ended up shooting him."

None of the names of the people involved have been released.

The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation has been called in to investigate the officer-involved shooting, Chennault said.

The deputy, described by Chennault as a veteran officer who has been with the Cherokee County Sheriff's Department for several years, was not injured.

According to a previous story in the Muskogee Phoenix, "the mission of Faith Based Therapeutic Community Corporation is to provide a drug-free residential setting using promising evidence-based practices for motivating offenders and fostering positive changes." 

Participants are required to find employment and pay rent, utilities and other daily living expenses. Mark Seabolt, program director, was not at the facility when the stabbings and shooting occurred.

The program has been operating since November 2011. The program includes community service, group meetings, church services, and anger management and team building classes.

Reach Elizabeth Ridenour at (918) 684-2929 or eridenour@muskogeephoenix.com.