US law enforcement officers kill black man, sparking protest

Three Oklahoma law enforcement officers fatally shot a black man while trying to pick him up for a mental health issue on Friday, triggering a protest on a city street that prompted dozens of officers in riot gear showing force.

Tulsa County sheriff's deputies were attempting to pick up the 29-year-old man near his house, but the man walked away and to a nearby convenience store instead, Tulsa police spokesman Leland Ashley said.

Two deputies and a Tulsa police officer opened fire before the man could enter the store when they discovered that he was carrying two knives and became concerned about the safety of the people who were inside the business, Ashley said.

The deputies who fired are white and the police officer is black. All three have been put on administrative leave. Police didn't release the name of the man who was shot, and it's not clear how many times he was struck.
Dozens of black residents gathered at an intersection near the store within minutes of the shooting on Tulsa's north side. Some shouted, "Hands up, don't shoot!"

At least two dozen officers and deputies wearing riot gear assembled in the store's parking lot. The crowd of residents eventually dispersed.
Some residents questioned why officers didn't use less lethal means to restrain the man, given his fragile mental state.

The shooting comes about three weeks after jurors acquitted a white Tulsa police officer of manslaughter in the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man last year. The verdict in favor of Betty Jo Shelby, who was allowed to return to the force, sparked peaceful protests and calls from community leaders and family members of 40-year-old Terence Crutcher to demand more accountability from the police.

Cleo Harris, who stood behind the yellow tape that authorities used to cordon off the scene, said blacks like him who live on the city's north side are fed up with what they perceive as a double standard in how the city is policed.

"People are upset, they're tired," the 50-year-old Harris said. "Black residents in north Tulsa want to be treated the same way (police) treat residents on the south side."

Angelica Hearn, 33, the next-door neighbor of the man who was killed, said: "He didn't bother no one. The police should've sent someone equipped to handle this." - AP