Former Tulsa Police Officer Discusses Affects Of Officer-Involved Shootings

Police say one man is dead after officers say he started shooting at them when they arrived at a house to serve a search warrant.

Officers from the Special Operations Team were executing the warrant because this was considered a “high-risk” warrant, police say.

While officers are trained to deal with situations like this, firing a single shot can take months to recover from.

“It’s hard to explain to someone else who’s never been in a situation where they think they’re going to die,” said attorney Scott Wood.

Wood is a former Tulsa police officer who has represented dozens of officers in his career who have been involved in shootings.  He says that in situations like this, things can happen fast.

“They’re afraid for their life,” he said.  “That’s a hard thing to get someone to understand that you’re either going to get shot or someone is going to run over you with a car unless you act immediately.”

Officers say Shaunday Mullins came out of the front door of the house with a gun and fired one shot, then an officer returned fire.  They say Mullins died soon after at the hospital.

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“He was violent and didn’t listen to officers’ commands,” said Officer Jeanne Pierce.  “Officers were notified that there would be possible guns inside this residence.”

The officer involved in Tuesday’s shooting was involved in an earlier shooting, where he shot a man who was threatening to kill a baby.

Wood says it’s not uncommon for officers on certain units to be involved in more than one shooting.

“It’s not unusual to have a handful of guys, just because of the assignment that they are in, to be in multiple shootings,” he said.

Officer-involved shooting investigations can take anywhere from a week to 20 days to put a report together, but as soon as the paperwork is complete, officers need to be mentally ready to go back to work.

“The old saying is, ‘If you get back in the car, you better be able to do it again that shift,’” Wood said.

Police say no officers were hurt in Tuesday’s incident.

The District Attorney will determine whether this shooting was justified.