What was supposed to be a fun weekend with friends turned into an absolute tragedy when Nolan Engel of Oklahoma was with friends celebrating his impending wedding. They had rented a cabin on Airbnb and were presumably going to do a bunch of fun pre-wedding activities for his bachelor party. But then they heard a noise and saw shadows. A shadowy figure outside a cabin during a bachelor party sounds like the beginning of a horror movie. The real horror, however, is that instead of carefully determining the source of the sounds, Engel shot at the figure. Now he’s facing murder charges.
The setup for the shooting really does sound like the beginning of a horror movie.
Just before 1 a.m. on April 4, 2026, deputies from the McCurtain County Sheriff’s Office responded to a shooting at a residence in Broken Bow, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation announced in a news release. The sheriff’s office called in the bureau to investigate a “suspicious death.”
When deputies arrived, they found 21-year-old Braden Uhlmann, who had an apparent gunshot wound. Uhlmann was taken to a nearby hospital where he later died of his injuries.
During the investigation into Uhlmann’s shooting, bureau special agents “made contact” with 22-year-old Engel, who they learned was in the home at the time.
The groom-to-be didn’t really think about all of his options before acting.
Engel told investigators he was on a bachelor party trip with three other friends, KXII reported, citing court documents. He said he heard knocking noises and saw a person’s shadow outside of their Airbnb cabin. Engel then fired a single shot with a 9mm handgun. According to the court documents, Engel made “spontaneous statements to arriving officers regarding himself as the shooter.”
After firing the shot, Engel told officers he and a friend left the cabin and found Uhlmann lying on the porch, per KXII. The victim had a gunshot wound to the chest.
It quickly became clear that Engel was the likely suspect.
Based on the information gathered and the evidence they were presented with, it was determined that Engel shot Uhlmann.
Engel was arrested and booked into McCurtain County Jail on a second-degree murder complaint, the bureau shared in the news release. “There were no other injuries reported, and this is still an ongoing investigation,” the release read.
People expressed their sadness at the whole situation.
The bureau posted the news release on its Facebook page, and people left comments expressing their dismay, disappointment, and prayers.
“What a shame to throw away your entire life like this. Feel sad for the young man who passed away and pray for healing for his family and that the shooter will find God,” one person wrote.
“Something’s wrong with our youth of America,” another comment reads.
“Something crazy had to have happened here,” someone else wrote. “These were both very good kids from very good families. Makes no sense. I want to know how this possibly happened.”
