Demonstrators Demand More Information After Fatal OHP Trooper-Involved Shooting

A group of about 30 people marched through the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety campus, demanding more information be released after an officer-involved shooting involving an Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper.

Robert Harris in the passenger seat of a car that was stopped for a traffic violation on the Will Rogers Turnpike in Craig County on Thursday, June 25.

According to OHP, the trooper spoke with the driver near his vehicle, and then asked Harris to exit the vehicle.

After a “brief encounter” with the trooper outside the vehicle, “Harris re-entered the passenger's side door and was exiting again when the trooper discharged his firearm one time,” according to an OHP press release.

Harris, a Tulsa native, was fatally wounded by the gunshot.

Trooper Cameron Cole, a 14-year veteran of the patrol, is on paid administrative leave pending an OHP investigation, which is protocol.

After the shooting, troopers found narcotics and a loaded semi-automatic pistol in the car.

The press release did not describe what prompted the gunfire.

“It’s crazy to lose someone and not even be able to have answers, and not know if you’re going to get justice because you don’t have answers,” said Adriana Laws, organizer of Friday’s protest and president of the Collegiate Freedom and Justice Coalition.

Robert Harris’ brother, Rodrick, said there needs to be a criminal investigation.

“He didn’t do nothing wrong. He was a passenger in the car and got murdered. Point blank, simple,” Rodrick Harris said.