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TULSA, Oklahoma (AP) – A former White Oklahoma volunteer white MP who shot and killed an unarmed black man said he was sorry for the man's family, but that the shooting had also disrupted his life.
"I feel very bad about it," Bates told KTUL-TV in his first public comments since the 2015 shooting that killed Eric Harris. "It's been a very disturbing thing in my life, I'm sorry for his son, his ex-wife and his family, it bothers me," Bates said in an interview on Thursday.
Bates, 77, shot dead Harris while he was already on the ground, blocked by other MPs at an illegal gun sale. He said that he had mistakenly fired his handgun instead of his stun gun.
Bates was convicted of second degree manslaughter and sentenced to four years in prison, but served less than half of his sentence before being released on parole. He would have been seen earlier this year drinking alcohol, which would have violated his parole. But a spokesman for the penitentiary department, Matt Elliott, said an investigation had revealed no evidence of Bates' alcohol consumption.
Bates, who now lives in Florida, said he was surprised that he was sent to jail.
"What kind of purpose did that make me put in jail? I mean that's the law, but, you know, I was rather surprised … that I got found in prison, "said Bates. "I think I have served more than enough time."
A lawyer from Harris' family did not immediately answer a Friday call.
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