Mother Of Man Fatally Shot By Bartlesville Police Speaks Out

A Bartlesville woman said she’s devastated after her 24-year-old son was killed by Bartlesville Police on Wednesday, July 5.

She said she was in the house with him at the time and is looking for answers about why.

Kenda Franks said she called police for help because her son, Ricky Franks, was cutting himself and she was worried about him.

OSBI said it went out to officers as an armed suspect call.

When Ricky was shot, his mother Kenda was in a different room, steps away from her son.

"I heard 'pow pow,' and I took two more steps, and there was my son,” said Kenda. “He hadn't even fallen to the floor yet. He hadn't even fallen to the floor, he looked me in my eyes, and said, ‘somebody shot me.'”

She said her son Ricky had mental health issues and was scared of all the lights and sirens.

"Before they shot him, he was just scared to death. He was as pale as a ghost. You could just tell he was frantic, he didn't know what to do,” said Kenda. “But he was on the phone with them or I was on the phone with them the entire time this was going on."

OSBI said negotiation attempts failed and that is what resulted in the shots being fired.

Kenda said after Ricky was injured, she was taken away in handcuffs.

She didn’t get to see her son again until he was in the funeral home, which is standard for crime scenes.

"I would have walked all the way to the hospital barefoot, just to see my son,” said Kenda. “Because if he was okay, I felt like he had to die alone. There was no reason he had to be alone in that time."

She doesn’t believe Ricky would have killed himself and wishes he could have gotten the help he needed.

"He told them on the phone he wasn't going to hurt them. He didn't want to hurt them. He was just scared to death," said Kenda.

Kenda said if she could talk to Ricky again, she would tell him, all she wanted to do in life was take care of him.

"I love him and I miss him, and I know he'd still be here with us today, had they not shot him because he was not ready to go,” said Kenda.

The OSBI said no officers were hurt during the shooting and this is an ongoing investigation.