TULSA, Okla.—Prosecutors charged a reserve sheriff’s deputy with manslaughter Monday in the death of a man who was fatally shot as he lay on the ground at the officer’s feet.
Tulsa County prosecutors filed a second-degree manslaughter charge against 73-year-old Robert Bates.
A police investigator has said Bates, who is white, thought he drew a stun gun, not his handgun, when he fired at 44-year-old Eric Harris, who was black, in the April 2 incident.
Bates is charged with second-degree manslaughter “involving culpable negligence,” Tulsa County District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler said in a statement.
![In this photo provided by the Tulsa County, Oklahoma, Sheriff's Office is Tulsa County reserve deputy Robert Bates. Police say Bates, a 73-year-old white reserve deputy, thought he was holding a stun gun, not his handgun, when he fired at 44-year-old Eric Harris in an April 2 incident. Harris, who is black, was treated by medics at the scene and died in a Tulsa hospital. (Tulsa County Sheriff's Office via AP)](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theepochtimes.com%2Fassets%2Fuploads%2F2015%2F04%2F13%2F22Killings-by-Police-Ok_Mitc-1-copy.jpg&w=1200&q=75)
Oklahoma law defines culpable negligence as “the omission to do something which a reasonably careful person would do, or the lack of the usual ordinary care and caution in the performance of an act usually and ordinarily exercised by a person under similar circumstances and conditions,” Kunzweiler said.
A video of the incident shot by deputies with sunglass cameras and released Friday at the request of the victim’s family, shows a deputy chase and tackle Harris, whom they said tried to sell an illegal gun to an undercover officer.
As the deputy subdues Harris on the ground, a gunshot rings out and a man says: “Oh, I shot him. I’m sorry.”
Harris was treated by medics at the scene and died in a Tulsa hospital.
A telephone message left Monday with Bates’ attorney, Scott Woods, was not immediately returned.
![In this photo provided by the Tulsa County, Oklahoma, Sheriff's Office is Eric Harris, 44. Police say Robert Bates, a white reserve sheriff's deputy, thought he was holding a stun gun, not his handgun, when he fatally shot Harris. (Tulsa County Sheriff's Office via AP)](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theepochtimes.com%2Fassets%2Fuploads%2F2015%2F04%2F13%2F33Killings-by-Police-Ok_Mitc-1-674x513.jpg&w=1200&q=75)