Hidden camera footage of an undercover police operation. This is Eric Harris looking nervous as he appears to sell a gun to a plain-clothes officer in a police sting.
:14 car pulls up
When Harris spots this undercover car pulling up .. he jumps out…
:19 sus runs
… moments before he was shot by reserve deputy Robert Bates…
:22 gun v taser
… who grabbed his handgun rather than this so-called less lethal taser.
Critics say he should have known the difference between his two weapons.
:30 SOT Harris’s brother Andre Harris
“He didn’t have to. This is something that either he didn’t just really think about, or he just decided that he wanted to shoot and he would worry about it later.”
:43 still 73-year-old Harris
The 73-year-old was insurance executive volunteered as a deputy in his spare time.
:47 footage “roll on stomach”
Here’s the moment he shot Harris…
:52 SFX bang, gunshot
Police explain things from their perspective…
:57 SOT
“Mr Harris fled. He disobeyed the orders of law enforcement. He attempted to flee from capture. And when he was attempting to be subdued and still in a ground combat with deputies, this Deputy Bates approached, and he attempted to use a less lethal device, Inadvertently he used his handgun instead.”
Robert Bates has been charged with second-degree manslaughter and could face up to four years in prison.
1.33 ends
Oklahoma prosecutors charged a sheriff’s reserve deputy with second-degree manslaughter on Monday (April 13) in the fatal shooting of a black man this month in Tulsa, the most recent in a series of U.S. cases that have raised questions about race relations and policing.
Reserve deputy Robert Bates, 73 and white, fatally shot 44-year-old black man Eric Harris on April 2. Bates thought he was using a Taser instead of his gun, the Tulsa Sheriff’s office said of the incident seen in a video released over the weekend.
Legal experts said second-degree manslaughter in Oklahoma can bring between two and four years in prison.
In the video, a man Oklahoma authorities identified as Bates is heard saying “Oh, I shot him. I’m sorry.”
Police were pursuing Harris on suspicion of trying to sell a gun illegally to an undercover officer in a police sting. He fled the scene and was being chased.
As a Tulsa County deputy subdues the suspect, a voice identified as Bates says, “Taser, Taser.” A gunshot is then heard.
The suspect is heard screaming, “He shot me. Oh my God.”
A deputy replies, telling Harris to shut up.
Harris, who said in the video he was having trouble breathing, later died at a Tulsa hospital.
The suspect’s family requested the video, which was recorded during the arrest using sunglass cameras.
“This is something that either [Bates] didn’t just really think about, or he just decided that he wanted to shoot and he would worry about it later,” said Harris’ brother, Eric Harris.
“If he had as much training as he supposedly had, he would definitely know a 357 from a taser,” he added.
However, the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Department said the shooting was an accident.
“Mr. Harris fled. He disobeyed the orders of law enforcement. He attempted to flee from capture, and when he was attempting to be subdued and still in a ground combat with deputies, this Deputy Bates approached, and he attempted to use a less lethal device. Inadvertently he used his handgun instead,” said Major Shannon Clark.
The department uses volunteer reserve deputies who have full powers and authorities. Bates works as an insurance executive and also worked on the Tulsa Sheriff’s Violent Crimes Task Force.
0 comments:
Post a Comment