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 Reserve deputy Robert Bates, 73 and white, fatally shot Eric
Harris, 44, an African-American, 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.
No attorney for Bates was listed on the charge sheet. 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. After the incident, family
members spoke out on social media.
“My brothers soul cryes (sic) out as he lays face down on the ground
and shot to death," wrote the victim's brother, Andre Harris, on
Facebook. “Is this the system we want?”
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The Tulsa County Sheriff’s 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.
Bates was named Reserve Deputy of the Year in 2011, according to the
Sheriff’s Office website.
Last week, a white South Carolina officer was arrested and charged
with murder after a video showed him fatally shooting an unarmed
black man in the back.
The shooting was reminiscent of other police killings over the past
year in cities including New York; Ferguson, Missouri; and
Cleveland, Ohio, rekindling national outrage over excessive use of
police force against black men.
(Editing by Jon Herskovitz, Lisa Lambret and Mohammad Zargham)
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