Tulsa Police Shoot and Kill Mentally-Ill Man With Knives

On Friday, demonstrators filled the streets of Tulsa, Oklahoma to protest the police shooting of a black man with mental health issues.

Two Tulsa County Sheriff’s deputies and a Tulsa officer visited the home of 29-year-old Joshua Barre to pick him up for a mental health issue. The three policemen were part of a mental health unit, who had monitoring Barre since May 31^st when the initial civil mental health pickup order was issued. On June 1^st and 7^th, Barre threatened to do something if the officers came into his home, but since there was no immediate threat to the public, they left without incident. On Friday, the officers responded to call of a man walking the streets with two knives, threatening people in the area.

When officials arrived, they tried to pick Barre up, but he walked the opposite way towards a local convenience store. As the man approached the store, the officers ordered him to stop. When he didn’t,  one of the officers used a Taser to subdue him. However, according to the official statement, it “had no effect.” When Barre opened the door to the convenience store, the deputies and the officer began to shoot, in fear Barre would hurt someone inside. Barre was then transported to a hospital, where he later died.

“They encountered this individual who had two knives. They followed him to this location, and at some point, the officers used deadly force,” a Tulsa police spokesman said of the incident.

The two deputies, who were white, along with the officer, who was black, have been placed on routine administrative leave.

It remains unclear how many shots were fired; however, authorities are reviewing the store surveillance footage, the dash cam footage as well as the body cam footage to get a clear understanding of what happened.

In the meantime, Tulsa residents filled the streets to protest the shooting, wondering why officials couldn’t use less lethal option to restrain Barre.

The shooting comes three weeks after a white Tulsa officer was acquitted after shooting and killing an unarmed black man last year.