Man With Knife Shot Dead After Charging At Officers, Tulsa Police Says

Tulsa police shot a man dead Saturday after officers said he aggressively ran at them while holding a knife.

Saturday, August 8th 2020, 9:05 pm



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Tulsa police shot a man dead Saturday after officers said he aggressively ran at them while holding a knife.

TPD said they were called to a private facility near Apache and Harvard because they said a man was trying to break into the facility.

TPD Captain Richard Meulenberg said when police arrived shortly after 2 p.m., the officers found the suspect sitting on a bench while holding a knife outside of the Porta Caeli House. The man began to cut himself with the knife.

Officers said they asked the Porta Caeli House to move their patients to another part of the building away from the scene to keep them out of harm’s way.

Police said they asked the man to put down the knife and stop harming himself multiple times for approximately 30 minutes. The suspect, however, began to charge at the officers while still holding the knife.

“At that time, he stood up and aggressively closed the distance between where he was and the officers,” Meulenberg said. “The officers opened fire on him while he was holding the knife.”

Police said they performed CPR immediately. The suspect was quickly transferred to a local hospital where he later died.

Porta Caeli House CEO Kevin Sartorius said some of the front windows of the Porta Caeli House were shattered during the shooting, but none of the patients or staff were injured inside.

“I know it’s something they don’t expect to see in their workplace and ministry,” Sartorius said. “We had staff come to relieve them as well. We are doing everything we can to comfort them.”

The shooting marked the 49th fatal shooting in the city this year.

The officers involved in this shooting will be placed on leave until they have all the details in this case.

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