The reserve deputy who shot a suspect with his firearm rather than his stun gun, and another deputy who can be heard cursing at the suspect after he was shot, were not in their normal states of mind because of the elevated stress of apprehending the suspect, according to a Tulsa, Oklahoma, investigator.
Tulsa Police Sgt. Jim Clark, who has been brought in to review the case, said Tulsa County Reserve Deputy Robert Bates, 73, "inadvertently" shot Eric Courtney Harris after Harris — a possibly PCP-addled felon who had days prior sold methamphetamine to an undercover officer — ran from authorities after trying to sell an illegal handgun during an undercover sting.
