Oklahoma prosecutors are investigating the shooting of an unarmed black man by a sheriff's deputy who said he meant to shoot him with a Taser, but accidentally shot him with a gun.
Video footage of the April 2 incident was released on Friday, and shows Reserve Deputy Robert Bates, 73, yelling, "Taser! Taser!" before firing from his gun. He hit 44-year-old Eric Harris of Tulsa, who was on the ground, pinned underneath officers. Bates then said, "I shot him! I'm sorry!" Harris is heard screaming, "He shot me! He shot me, man. Oh my God. I'm losing my breath." One of the officers replies, "F—k your breath. Shut the f—k up."
Harris, who had been arrested for allegedly trying to sell a 9 mm semi-automatic pistol and ammunition to an undercover sheriff's task force, died an hour later. The Tulsa County Sheriff's Office is standing behind Bates, with NBC affiliate KJRH reporting that they believe "he did not commit a crime." You can watch the released video below. —Catherine Garcia
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