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On April 2, 2015, 43-year-old African-American Eric Courtney Harris was fatally shot during an undercover sting in Tulsa, Oklahoma, as Harris ran from authorities unarmed.
Oct 19, 2017 · OKLAHOMA CITY — A white former Oklahoma reserve deputy who fatally shot an unarmed black man in 2015 when he mistook his firearm for a stun gun was released from prison Thursday after serving...
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Apr 12, 2015 · Robert Bates, the 73-year-old Tulsa County reserve deputy, shot Eric Harris, 44, during an April 2 sting operation in which officers recorded Harris attempting to illegally sell a gun to police.
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A Tulsa reserve sheriff's deputy surrendered to authorities Tuesday morning following a second-degree manslaughter charge in the shooting death of an unarmed black man.
Reserve Deputy Robert Bates, 73, was charged with second-degree manslaughter on Monday in the death or Eric Harris —who was shot and killed during a dramatic arrest April 2. Bates has said he did not intend to shoot Harris and thought he was using a Taser on him instead of a gun.
Bates, an insurance agent who served as a reserve deputy since 2008, was booked into a county jail Tuesday morning on the manslaughter charge and released after posting bond.
The reserve deputy shot and killed Harris during a sting operation in which Harris allegedly tried to sell a 9 mm semi-automatic pistol to an undercover member of the Tulsa County Violent Crimes Task Force. Harris bolts from a car before he can be arrested and officers chase after him.
"Taser! Taser!" Bates is heard shouting in the video, before firing a single round from his gun, hitting Harris, who was pinned to the ground by officers.
He quickly realizes his mistake saying, "I shot him!! I’m sorry!" Harris was taken to the hospital where he later died.
•Oklahoma Deputy Sheriff Robert Bates Charged With Manslaughter in Eric Harris Shooting Death
•Oklahoma Man Eric Harris Fatally Shot by Deputy Who Meant to Fire Taser
Apr 27, 2016 · An Oklahoma jury on Wednesday found Robert Bates, who was a volunteer deputy, guilty of second-degree manslaughter in the shooting of Eric Courtney Harris.
Mar 9, 2018 · The estate of Eric Harris, a Tulsa man gunned down in a botched gun sting in 2015 that garnered national headlines, has settled with the defendants in the civil case for $6 million. The $6 million figure is likely the largest settlement for an excessive force violation in Oklahoma’s history.
May 11, 2015 · The day after Eric Harris was fatally shot during a botched undercover gun sting, Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office Maj. Shannon Clark learned that a reporter was about to identify department booster Robert Bates as the killer.
