Family Wants Answers After Loved One Killed By Tulsa County Reserve Deputy
A local family is wanting answers after a Tulsa County Reserve Deputy shot and killed their loved one. The shooting happened last Thursday during an undercover investigation. The deputy 73-year-old Robert Bates admitted to mixing up his gun and taser.
On Thursday afternoon the Harris family made a call for transparency. They want all their questions answered and they want the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office to release video of the shooting.
Right now a cross marks the area where 44- year -old Harris was shot and killed. Harris' 16- year- old son Aiden Fraley remembers the last thing he told his father.
"That I loved him and that I would talk to him again the next day. But when I didn't get to talk to him, I knew something was happening," Fraley said.
On Thursday Fraley spoke out out for the first time since the shooting. Alongside his uncle, relatives, Pastor and the family's attorneys.
"There is a lot that we know about what happened to Eric Harris. But there is a lot we don't know," said Daniel Smolen.
Many unanswered questions are what's keeping the harris family from moving past this tragedy.
"For those that know what happened to my father, I want to know the truth about what happened. And the videos they say they have what haven't they been released and will they be released," Fraley said.
The family's attorneys said they believe at least two videos of the shooting exist. Surveillance video from the Dollar General located close to where Harris was killed and video from Google glasses which are often worn in undercover investigations.
During a one on one interview with Harris' brother Andre Harris, he detailed specific questions that keep haunting him.
"I want to know if he had a weapon on him or not. I want to know if he was shot in the back accidentally or on purpose. These are all the things not only I want to know, but the public wants," Andre said.
Major Shannon Clark with the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office released this statement on Thursday evening.
"The Tulsa County Sheriff's Office has not been presented with any specific question(s) from the family or their attorney.
The Tulsa County Sheriff's Investigators are still awaiting pertinent information to complete the investigation. Once investigators have received all evidence involved in this investigation, the results will be turned over to the Tulsa County District Attorney's Office for review.
Former District Attorney Tim Harris has previously admonished and formally cautioned the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office from releasing any evidence in an ongoing investigation and further instructed our office to adhere to the ethical obligations pertaining to pre-trial publicity.
The Tulsa County Sheriff's Office has received multiple media inquiries about the existence of a video(s) depicting the incident. The video(s) depicting the incident is considered part of an ongoing investigation and is not currently subject to the Oklahoma Open Records Act. As the investigative process continues and in accordance with the rule of law, the judicial process, and the rules of professional conduct, the video will then be released for public review. "
