Suspect Shot By Police Was Not Involved In Robberies

Thursday, April 12th 2007, 9:53 am

By: News On 6

There are new details in an officer involved shooting in Tulsa. The News On 6 has learned that the man, who was shot and killed by a Tulsa Police Officer, had been kicked out of the U.S. last fall. Immigration officials say they gave Mario Torres a voluntary removal last August. That's where they walk him across the border to Mexico and tell him not to come back. News On 6 crime reporter Lori Fullbright reports it doesn't have the same legal consequences as an official deportation, but it is close.

Records show that Mario Torres came back to the U.S. and was arrested two months later, twice in a two week period in Tulsa. Once for public drunk and once for refusing to come out of his brother's house after causing a disturbance. Documents show it was around that time his brother and sister-in-law filed protective orders against him. The News On 6 learned they called police this past Monday, saying he had violated that order.

Torres was shot Wednesday by an officer with 31 years on the department. Two violent robberies had happened and a K-9 tracked the suspects to an apartment building in East Tulsa. Police say Torres jumped out of a window from that building and ran. Officers now know he was not involved in the robberies, what they donâ€™t know is why he ran, other than perhaps because he's illegal, or he had two misdemeanor warrants out for his arrest.

Police say he did not have a gun on him when he was shot, but a search warrant reveals officers did find guns in his apartment.

The officer who shot Torres is on routine suspension until the district attorney makes a ruling about the legality of the shooting.

Related story:

4/11/2007 Officer On Leave After Killing Suspect