TULSA -- A friend of the kidnapping and rape suspect who was a shot and killed by police officers in east Tulsa on Friday is speaking out.
UPDATE: Tulsa police officers involved in the shooting
The man told 2 Works for You reporter Corley Peel that he could have prevented officers from shooting his friend, David English, 34, if police only gave him a chance.
UPDATE: Tulsa Police Department identifies officers involved in fatal shooting of David English
Wayne Youngwolfe says although English was his lifelong friend, he immediately stepped in when he said he saw English had brutally beaten his girlfriend. He said if police would have let him get to English beforehand, he would have never been shot.
RELATED: Court documents: Man shot, killed by police had tortured, raped woman
"They didn't give me a chance to go get him," Youngwolfe said. "This is what they wanted, so they got it."
Youngwolfe said English was battling Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
"The war messed him up. He has never been the same person since he came back," Youngwolfe said.
Youngwolfe said he didn't know how bad it was until last week, when he went to English's house and found his friend's girlfriend, who police said English raped and tortured.
“I didn’t know what to think at that point. I was just thinking -- trying to get her some help, and I was hoping that this could have ended differently," Youngwolfe said.
Youngwolfe said on Friday, Claremore police agreed to let him pick English up from the apartment he was staying at in Tulsa. He said he was supposed to be the one to turn English in to the police.
But instead, he said police got to the apartment first.
That's when police said English led officers on a chase that ended with English charging at officers with a knife before they shot and killed him.
“I was supposed to pick him up at 6:30 p.m. I was on my way to Tulsa when this all happened. They lied to me and told me I could go in and get him,” Youngwolfe said.
Youngwolfe said he told police that English was suicidal.
“He knew they’d kill him, and they knew this so they need to find a new way to do things," Youngwolfe said. "They don’t have to kill first.”
Youngwolfe said English's girlfriend is still in the hospital recovering from her injuries.
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