Officers’ killing of mentally ill man not criminal, Tulsa Police say

TULSA, Okla. (AP) – An internal police investigation has found that Oklahoma law enforcement officers who killed a mentally ill, knife-wielding man committed no crime.

The Tulsa World reports (http://bit.ly/2shUnPR ) Tulsa County District Attorney’s Office will review the findings of the investigation into the June 9 shooting of Joshua Barre and decide whether to file charges.

Authorities say Barre was walking along a street carrying two butcher’s knives. Two sheriff’s deputies spotted Barre, whom they knew was mentally ill, and tried to coax him to drop the weapons. They followed him and called for backup.

As he entered a convenience store, the deputies and a police officer who arrived at the scene, opened fire, killing him. A stun gun had failed to subdue Barre.

Tulsa police Sgt. Dave Walker said Monday he found “nothing to support criminal charges.”