Farmer Bought 2 Water Buffalo at Auction. They Killed Him the Next Day.

July 15, 2025, 2:01pm

45-year-old Brad McMichael bought two water buffaloes at auction. Those newly acquired water buffaloes fatally attacked him on his property just a day after he’d brought them home.

The incident happened in Jones, Oklahoma, about 20 miles from Oklahoma City. On Friday evening, first responders were called to the scene, but they couldn’t immediately reach McMichael due to the “aggressive” behavior of the animals.

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According to police, responders were delayed for a few tense minutes until they were forced to shoot one of the buffalo just to be able to get to McMichael. He had sustained severe lacerations and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Farmer Bought Two Water Buffalo at Auction. They Killed Him a Day Later.

McMichael’s fiancée, Jennifer Green, was with him at the time. She believes he was likely filling stock tanks with fresh water when the attack happened.

According to reports, McMichael wasn’t one to take risks with animals. He was an experienced farmer who knew his business. But experience doesn’t always guarantee a win against wild animal instinct. “He wouldn’t have been casual and, like I said, he was very experienced,” Green told NBC News.

As emergency crews tried to manage the chaos, the second buffalo ramped up its hostility, threatening anyone nearby. It also had to be put down.

McMichael had recently expanded his herd with these buffalo. It was part of a lifelong passion. His family’s land had seen three generations of farming all manner of livestock, from cattle to goats to lambs.

According to Green and McMichael’s ex-wife, Amy Smith, farming was his life, and the water buffaloes were purchased as a means of extending his family’s legacy, even expanding into new territory with the whole animal. “He lived for the farm, our son, and the town of Jones,” said his ex-wife, Amy Smith. Neighbors and friends have flooded Green with messages of support.

“Bradley’s farm was his dream,” she wrote in a statement posted to the McMichael Farms Facebook page. “And I had the privilege of helping him with it for a little while.”