Sheriff: Fatal Shooting Of Tulsa Man Addresses 'Bigger Issue'

<p>Tulsa County sheriff's deputies knew Joshua Barre long before he was killed Friday after he walked into a convenience store armed with two knives.</p>

Monday, June 12th 2017, 5:44 pm



Tulsa County sheriff's deputies knew Joshua Barre long before he was killed Friday after he walked into a convenience store armed with two knives.

Sheriff Vic Regalado says Friday's shooting marks the first deadly force encounter the Mental Health Unit has ever been involved in.

6/9/2017 Related Story: Deputies, Police Officer Shoot, Kill Man At Tulsa Convenience Store

"It was a bad day for everybody involved," Regalado says.

Two sheriff's deputies, along with a Tulsa Police officer, fired at Barre, 29, as he went into a convenience store in north Tulsa wielding two knives. 

But before any shots were fired, Regalado says, a deputy used a Taser. He says it didn't make "proper contact" and failed. 

"There's documentation in regards to this particular individual, Joshua Barre, where Tasers in the past hadn't worked," Regalado says.

The sheriff says the two deputies who fired at Barre developed a relationship with him over the past year. 

6/9/2017 Related Story: Tulsa Police Release Surveillance Video Of Fatal Shooting

"Either had conversations with the family or with Joshua, and have picked him up to get his medications back on track," Regalado says.

They'd seen Barre a couple times in the days leading up to his death, trying to pick him up for a judge-ordered mental health evaluation.

Regalado says Barre threatened officers on two visits to his home and locked himself inside.

"There's no telling how he would have reacted with law enforcement entering into his house," Regalado says. "I think that's an escalation and one that we weren't going to take."

Going forward, Regalado says he hopes Barre's death serves as a springboard to address a bigger issue.

"The state of Oklahoma does not provide adequately enough for mental health treatment," Regalado says.

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