Tulsa Officer Cleared After Shooting, Killing Man Involved In Domestic Dispute

A man was killed after being shot multiple times by a Tulsa police officer in February of this year.

Police said an officer was confronted by a suspect, Joshua Kinyon Taft, after a series of events in a domestic altercation led officers to respond to a Tulsa bar.

Police said this all started when Taft’s girlfriend took his motorcycle keys because he was too drunk to ride. Instead, he took his girlfriend’s car, wrecked it, and walked back to the bar, police said. 

Police said Taft was hostile when they arrived at the bar, and he ignored the officer's commands. Taft began reaching into his back pocket where he had a pistol concealed on his hip, police said.

Taft started walking toward his girlfriend who was in the bar parking lot, when he drew the pistol from his hip, turned around, and tried to point it at the officer, police said.

The officer then shot multiple rounds at Taft, hitting him and making him collapse on the ground, police said.

Taft was hospitalized and later died from injuries sustained in the shooting, police said.

The Tulsa County District Attorney’s office reviewed the case and cleared the officer. 

Content Warning: The body camera video of the shooting is graphic. It can be found below on Tulsa Police Department's Facebook page.