Tulsa prosecutor won’t prosecute officers in fatal shooting

TULSA, Okla. – Tulsa County’s district attorney says he won’t prosecute the law enforcement officers who fatally shot a mentally ill, knife-wielding man.

District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler said Tuesday his office found no criminal wrongdoing on the part of either the Tulsa police officer or two Tulsa County sheriff’s deputies who shot 29-year-old Joshua Barre on June 9.

The Tulsa World reports an earlier internal police investigation found that Deputies William Ramsey and Brandon Walker and Officer Donnie Johnson didn’t commit a crime when they fired at Barre as he entered a north Tulsa convenience store.

Authorities say Barre was walking along a street carrying two butcher’s knives. The deputies tried to coax Barre into dropping the weapons.

The deputies and a police officer shot Barre after a stun gun didn’t subdue him.

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Information from: Tulsa World, http://www.tulsaworld.com