The Tulsa Sheriff's Office held a news conference to discuss last week's fatal shooting of a suspect in a sting operation. Sheriff's Captain Bill McKelvey told reporters that when they were trying to take Eric Harris into custody last Friday, Harris was considered armed and dangerous. As officers tried to arrest him, Harris became combative and started running. Deputies gave chase. That is when Reserve Deputy Robert Bates, who had been on perimeter duty, got involved.
The department says Bates pulled his personal weapon, which weighed about the same as his taser. He shouted "taser" twice and then fired. It was when the gun recoiled (tasers do not) that he knew he had used the wrong weapon. At that point Bates said "I shot him---I am sorry".
Captain McKelvey classified the incident as stress induced mistake. The department completed its report on the shooting and turned it over to the District Attorney's office. However, McKeley stated, in his opinion, Bates committed no crime.