Police in Tulsa, Oklahoma, released body camera footage showing a suspect being hit with a Taser and arrested.
Tulsa police officers ran after Micah Fitzpatrick and went into a field near East Skelly Drive before an officer used his Taser. Fitzpatrick immediately dropped to the ground, and the officer placed handcuffs on him.
In the video, an officer says: “Get on the ground! Give me your hands, hands!” The officer then asks: “You got a gun? What are you running for?”
“They believe they may be dealing with an individual who has a gun, and sure enough when they do catch up to him he was carrying a very large pistol,” said Sgt. Shane Tuell of the Tulsa Police Department. “That’s why you always hear officers say, ‘Show me your hands, show me your hands,’” he added of the gun that was discovered in Fitzpatrick’s pocket.
“Because its not the person that’s going to hurt the officer. It’s what’s in those hands that could hurt the officer,” he added.
He said that it’s common for officers to talk to suspects. “We don’t need to have a criminal offense occur to just go up and talk to a citizen, but if they turn around and run then we are allowed to pursue them,” the official added.
The arrest took place on Sept. 13, KTUL reported. The body camera footage wasn’t released until Oct. 8.
