Oklahoma officials have released video footage of the shooting of an unarmed black man by a volunteer police deputy in Tulsa County.

The dramatic video shows the victim, 44-year-old Eric Harris, running away during a sting operation on April 2. Eventually, authorities catch up to Harris and tackle him to the ground. Moments later a shot is fired, and Reserve Tulsa County Deputy Robert Gates can be heard apologizing for releasing a shot from his handgun, as opposed to using a Taser to compose him.

"Taser! Taser!" says the 73-year-old white reserve sheriff's deputy before pulling the trigger.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I shot him," says the former policeman.

In response, Harris became frantic.

"He shot me! He shot me, man. Oh, my god. I'm losing my breath," he said, as his face was smashed into the ground by another officer's knee.

"F*ck your breath," a callous officer yelled at the dying victim. "Shut the f*ck up!"

According to The Associated Press, Harris was then treated by medics at the scene and died at a local hospital.

The video, which was recorded by deputies with video sunglasses, was released over the weekend at the request of Harris' family.

Following the incident, Tulsa Police Sgt. Jim Clark said that results from his investigation determined that the shooting was not a crime and did not violate department policy.

"Reserve Deputy Bates did not commit a crime," he said, reports USA Today.

He went on to describe the shooter as a "victim" of a psychological phenomenon called "slip and capture," where stress causes someone's behavior to slip off the intended path after being "captured" by a stronger response demanded by the brain.

Despite the gunshot noise and Bates' admission, Sheriff's Capt. Billy McKelvey says that that the arresting officers at the scene were not aware Harris had been shot.

"He made an inadvertent mistake," McKelvey said, according to the New York Daily News.

On the other hand, a lawyer representing the Harris family said that Clark's ruling was "premature and ill-advised."

The AP reports that reserve deputies are generally volunteers with other full-time jobs who are given "full powers and authority" of a deputy while on duty.

Bates is an insurance company executive assigned to the Violent Crimes Task Force.