Deputy 'inadvertently' shoots suspect with gun, believing he was using Taser
(CNN)
Police say Robert (Bob) Bates, 73, thought he pulled out his Taser during an arrest, but instead shot the suspect, who later died at a local hospital.
The shooting happened after an apparent drug and gun selling operation by the Tulsa Violent Crimes task force Thursday. Bates, a member of the task force, was part of a group of deputies trying to arrest Eric Courtney Harris, 44, in the parking lot of a Dollar General store.
Police say Harris, a convicted felon, sold undercover officers a pistol. When confronted by an arrest team, he fled the scene on foot and police say they "observed him reaching for his waistband area ...causing concern for the deputies safety."
After a brief pursuit, police say Harris was forced to the ground, where he continued to resist arrest and "refused to pull his left arm from underneath his body where his hand was near his waistband."
Random observations, as there is little to add:
War on drugs:
* continues to pay off well for the constabulary. No end of work accomplishing nothing.
* I make a perverse smirk when cops kill people during a drug raid when those drugs usually won't kill people. Yeah, the dude sold him a gun. They were and are always FAR more concerned about druuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuugs. They're cops.
Waistbands: Can't we phase these things out of clothing? They are SO dangerous.
America is oppressed via this level of untrammeled police brutality and utter glaring incompetence.
I doubt, seriously, we will see significant improvement anytime soon or without significant escalation of public demand and demonstration.