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Jack Simpson, THE INDEPENDENT
TULSA, Okla. (The Independent)—A reserve police officer in Oklahoma has shot and killed an unarmed black man after he claims to have mistaken his gun for a Taser.
Just a week after a video emerged of an incident that saw black man Walter Scott fatally shot by a police officer in North Carolina, disturbing police bodycam footage shows 73-year-old reserve deputy Robert Bates shoot 44-year-old Eric Courtney Harris as he is being restrained on the ground in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Bates later told police that he believed he was using his Taser stun gun and not his handgun when arresting Harris.
During the incident that occurred on 2 April, Harris can be heard shouting, “He shot me! He shot me, man. Oh, my god. I’m losing my breath,” to which one officer replies, “F*** your breath.”
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