Eric Harris

Tulsa County, Oklahoma settled the a federal civil rights suit for a price tag of $6 million for Eric Harris’ life.

Bates was found guilty last month of second-degree murder for the April 2, 2015 gun sting operation in Tulsa, Oklahoma that left Harris dead.

Robert Bates, 74, a wealthy insurance executive, was accused of fatally shooting Eric Harris while working with Tulsa County sheriff's deputies during an illegal gun sales sting.

Statistics about fatal police shootings are notoriously hard to come by, so the Washington Post started counting this year. The result is an analysis of 385 fatal police shootings — more than 2 per day — around the nation during the first 5 months of 2015. Reports the Post: About half the victims were white, […]

A 73-year-old Tulsa, Oklahoma reserve deputy who killed a man earlier this month when he fired a gun instead of a Taser was the subject of an investigation over questions about his training and conduct, CBS News has learned. Robert Bates has pleaded not guilty to second-degree manslaughter charges in the death of Eric Harris, saying […]

As a teen in the “War on Drugs” 1980s, I remember being almost jubilant on those rare occasions when the local news showed a criminal suspect who was not Black. Even though the Central Florida area where I lived was less than 12 percent Black, the local news seemed to suggest that only Blacks committed […]

Two of the three Tulsa, Okla. deputies involved in an attempt to arrest Eric Harris that led to his death have been reassigned after threats were made against them and their families, CNN reports. According to the news site, Sheriff Stanley Glanz announced the reassignments in a news conference Monday. The two officers, who have not […]

The lawyer for an Oklahoma reserve deputy, who fatally shot a man he meant to halt with a Taser, released documents on Saturday that verify some of his training, according to CNN. Robert Bates, 73, a businessman in Tulsa, Okla., had one Taser training class over a six-and-a-half-year period, took three firearms training classes, and […]

A day after a critical report raised questions about the training of a Tulsa reserve deputy, he denied Friday that his records were forged and apologized to the family of the man he killed when he “mistakenly” fired his gun instead of his Taser, according to NBC Today. Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office Reserve Deputy Robert […]

A damning report accuses the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office of falsifying training records for the 73-year-old reserve deputy charged with manslaughter in a fatal incident in which he mistook his gun for a Taser, according to the Washington Post. Speaking on the condition of anonymity, supervisors in the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office were ordered to […]

UPDATE: Monday, April 13, 2015 — 4:10 PM EST Robert Bates, the Tulsa County Reserve Deputy who claims he thought he pulled out his Taser when he fatally shot Eric Courtney Harris on April 2, has been charged with second-degree manslaughter. According to police, Bates said he though he was reaching for the Taser, but “inadvertently” […]