This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

Oklahoma officer who mistook gun for Taser charged in killing of black man Read more

A volunteer law enforcement officer was booked into jail on Tuesday on a manslaughter charge in the death of an Oklahoma man who was fatally shot as he lay on the ground at the officer’s feet.

The sheriff’s office has said Robert Bates, a 73-year-old insurance executive who was volunteering on an undercover operation, mistakenly pulled out his handgun instead of his stun gun and shot Eric Harris as the suspect struggled with deputies.

It was the latest fatal shooting by a police officer to draw national attention after months of investigations and protests of other deaths in Ferguson, Missouri, New York City, South Carolina and elsewhere.

Many of the cases have stirred debate about the treatment of black men and boys by US law enforcement agencies. Bates is white and Harris, 44, was black. But at a news conference Monday, Andre Harris, the Oklahoma victim’s brother, said he does not believe that shooting was racially motivated.

The Oklahoma case, however, has raised questions about the use of volunteer officers to supplement full-time police.

Bates was charged on Monday with second-degree manslaughter involving “culpable negligence” for Harris’s 2 April death. If convicted, he could face up to four years in prison.

Bates surrendered to the Tulsa County jail and was released after posting bond. Bates’s attorney, Clark Brewster, told reporters that his client would not make a statement.

A video of the incident shot by a deputy with a sunglass camera and released on Friday at the request of the victim’s family, shows a deputy chase and tackle Harris, who they said tried to sell an illegal gun to an undercover officer.

As the deputy subdues Harris on the ground, a gunshot rings out and a man says: “Oh, I shot him. I’m sorry.”

Harris screams: “He shot me. Oh, my God,” and a deputy replies: “You fucking ran. Shut the fuck up.”

When Harris says he’s losing his breath, a deputy replies: “Fuck your breath.”

Harris was treated by medics at the scene and died in a hospital.

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The family said in a statement that they were “saddened, shocked, confused and disturbed”.

“Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of all of this is the inhumane and malicious treatment of Eric after he was shot,” the family wrote. “These deputies treated Eric as less than human. They treated Eric as if his life had no value.”

The use of reserve officers is commonplace across much of the US. Cities and counties often turn to them for extra manpower because of a lack of resources and tight budgets.

Reserve deputies are permitted to carry firearms but have far less training than regular officers.

Bates, who was briefly a full-time officer with the Tulsa police department from 1964 to 1965, updates his certification every year, said Tulsa County sheriff’s spokesman Shannon Clark.