The Tulsa County sheriff said Monday he doesn’t believe training records were falsified for a volunteer deputy who said he confused his handgun with his stun gun in the fatal shooting of a suspect.
Sheriff Stanley Glanz said the volunteer — his longtime insurance agent, 73-year-old Robert Bates — was properly trained. But Glanz stopped short of saying Bates was qualified to use the gun with which he killed Eric Harris earlier this month.
Bates is charged with second-degree manslaughter in the death of Harris, who ran from officers during a sting investigation in a gun-selling case, then was shot while pinned down by deputies. Harris’ family has questioned whether Bates — who said he thought he had unholstered his stun gun rather than hisa Smith and Wesson .357 — was adequately trained, and their lawyers say his training records are incomplete.
“Mr. Bates has been to the range several times and is qualified, and that is documented,” Glanz said Monday, adding that he and Bates have known each other for about 25 years.
When asked if Bates had been trained on the specific gun he fired at Harris, Glanz said: “That is something we’re still looking at and it will be part of the administrative review.” Glanz, sheriff since 1989, also said he had no plans to resign and had received numerous calls of support.
In a news conference later Monday, lawyers for Harris’ family said the sheriff’s training unit violated department policies by not making a permanent record of Bates’ certifications. They also said Bates’ records are incomplete, and that his .357 wasn’t approved for use by Tulsa deputies.
The Tulsa World newspaper, citing unnamed sources, has reported that some of Bates’ supervisors were told to certify him after he failed to meet some qualifications. Bates disputes those claims. His defense attorneys released some of his training records over the weekend.
But the sheriff’s office has said it was unable to locate all of Bates’ records. On Monday, Glanz said some of those records could have been destroyed under a new state law that allows state agencies to throw away records that are more than five years old.
Bates, who sold his insurance company for $6 million in 1999, was a patrolman with the Tulsa Police Department in the mid 1960s. It is unclear why he left law enforcement, but records released by his attorneys say his training back then meant he was qualified when he returned as a volunteer nearly four decades later.
Active law enforcement officers are required to pass a firearms test annually.
Glanz also said Monday that action will be taken against two deputies at the scene, including one caught on video cursing at Harris as he lay dying. The sheriff said both deputies have received threats and have been reassigned for their own safety.
“Through our administrative process we will review what those officers did and will take some administrative action,” Glanz said without providing specifics.
He said nine officers were involved with the sting, and that two officers had pinned down Bates when the shot was fired.
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