Killing of Eric Harris
On April 2, 2015, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, 43-year-old Eric Courtney Harris was fatally shot during an undercover police sting. Harris was unarmed and running away when the incident happened.
Deputy Robert Bates, who was leading the sting, says he mistook his personal handgun for a Taser and shot Harris in the back while Harris was on the ground. Bates immediately said, “Oh, I shot him! I’m sorry.” Harris did not have a gun.
A sunglasses-camera video from the scene shows Harris running and then struggling as he tried to breathe.
Bates was charged with second-degree manslaughter. He was found guilty and sentenced to four years in prison, but he was released after about 18 months.
In 2018, Tulsa County agreed to pay Harris’s family $6 million to settle a federal lawsuit.
Harris’s family and supporters noted that Harris was not armed and that the shooting raised questions about training and procedures in undercover police work.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 16:34 (CET).