New York Daily News – by Megan Cerullo
Protests erupted in Tulsa, Okla. Saturday following the police shooting of a knife-wielding man outside a convenience store.
Two deputies and one police officer shot and killed 29-year-old Joshua Barre on Friday morning after receiving multiple 911 calls saying he carried “two butcher knives” and threatened people, police said, local media reported.
Barre’s mother, Etta Jones Barre, described her son as “mentally ill,” CNN affiliate KTUL reported.
One June 1, the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office said its mental health unit found Barre in his home, armed with a hammer and threatening deputies after an order had been issued to take him into custody and evaluate his mental health.
Deputies concluded that because he was locked in his home at the time, he “did not pose an immediate threat to the public.”
Police encountered Barre twice more before the fatal shooting but never arrested him.
Surveillance video shows Joshua Barre, 29, who was shot and killed by police, armed with two knives as he enters a Tulsa convenience store.
(TULSA COUNTY SHERIFF/VIA KFOR)
On Friday, the Tulsa Police Department received four separate 911 calls reporting that Barre had been seen walking around with knives.
One caller said he was carrying “two huge butcher knives in his hands…” KFOR-TV reported.
Deputies ordered the suspect to drop the knives, but he refused, and threatened to kill the deputies.
Barre approached a nearby convenience store and was ordered not to enter it.
A deputy Tased Barre, but “it had no effect,” KFOR-TV reported.
Police received four separate 911 calls on Friday reporting that Barre was walking around with knives and threatening people.
(TULSA COUNTY SHERIFF/VIA KFOR)
Surveillance video shows him entering the store holding the knives.
As he opened the door and began to enter the store, officers shot him.
He was taken to the hospital where he died.
The officers involved have been placed on administrative leave. Their names have not yet been released.
The incident marks Tulsa’s fifth officer-involved shooting this year.