Police Brutality / Individual record
Eric Harris
Eric Harris, an unarmed Tulsa resident, was fatally shot by reserve deputy Robert Bates on April 2, 2015 during an arrest; Bates was convicted of manslaughter.
- Record ID
- PB-144
- Incident date
- April 2, 2015
- Outcome
- Fatal
- Location
- Tulsa, OK
- Agency
- Tulsa County Sheriff's Office
- Category
- Fatal on-duty police shooting
- Age (reported)
- 44
What happened
On April 2, 2015, Tulsa County sheriff's deputies pursued Eric Harris during an undercover gun-sale operation. After he fled on foot, deputies restrained him on the ground. Volunteer reserve deputy Robert Bates fired his handgun, later saying he mistook it for a Taser. Harris was unarmed when he was shot. The incident was captured on video, prompting questions about deputies' treatment of Harris and Bates's qualifications, role and ties to the sheriff's office. A previously reported internal memorandum had raised concerns about Bates's training, and reporting described his financial donations to the department. Harris's brother Andre pursued accountability publicly. Bates was convicted in 2016 of second-degree manslaughter and sentenced to four years, making the case one of the comparatively uncommon police killings with a resulting criminal conviction. The family's loss and the recorded circumstances remain central regardless of that outcome.
Investigation & findings
Robert Bates convicted of second-degree manslaughter April 2016, sentenced to four years in prison May 31, 2016, and later released from custody.
Washington Post Fatal Force v2; 2015–2024
Source record details
- Source incident ID
- 291
- Race code in source
- B
- Race source method
- not_available
- Gender (source)
- male
- Armed status (source)
- unarmed
- Flee status (source)
- not
- Agency IDs (source)
- 46
Last reviewed: October 25, 2026
Sources & records
- Primary source
- Additional source
- Methodology and national police killings trackingMapping Police Violence · Dataset/methodology
- Fatal Force v2 — fatal on-duty police shootings, 2015–2024The Washington Post · Dataset
- Fatal Force methodology and data limitationsThe Washington Post · Methodology