Monday: Officer-involved shootings up this year
BY AMANDA BLAND World Staff Writer
Sunday, December 16, 2012
Tulsa has seen an increase in the number of police officer-involved shootings this year; but the department has a similar number to other cities in the region, and officers say it’s difficult to determine why shootings may increase or decrease on a year-to-year basis.
Tulsa police officers shot eight people between Jan. 1 and Dec. 17. Four died of police-inflicted gunshot wounds and a fifth fatally shot himself as officers shot and struck him in the leg.
Oklahoma City police have been involved in seven shootings, one of which was fatal, and two people have died in eight shootings involving Kansas City, Mo., police so far this year.
The number of officer-involved shootings in Oklahoma City increased by one from 2011. Kansas City saw a decrease of more than 50 percent. Tulsa’s number of officer involved shootings was four in 2011.
“We have had years higher, and it’s kind of a cyclical thing,” said Tulsa Police Chief Chuck Jordan. “I don’t really know how to explain it.”
Read more in Monday's Tulsa World.
Associated Images:
Officers converge on the scene of a police-involved shooting in the 900 block of East 36th Street South in March. MIKE SIMONS/Tulsa World file
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