Shelby reportedly told a dispatcher that she was “not having cooperation” from him, however, her husband Dave Shelby said in footage taken by the helicopter he was operating, “He’s got his hands up there for her now”.
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“We saw that Terence did not have any weapon,”said the family’s attorney Damario Solomon-Simmons”. The issue of whether Shelby had a stun gun on her at the time would be relevant, too.
Tulsa police released several video and audio clips from the deadly shooting.
The department said he was tasered and shot, and that no weapons were found on him or in his vehicle, the Times reported.
Shelby’s attorney, Scott Wood, said Crutcher was not following the officers’ commands.
The mother-in-law of a white Oklahoma police officer who fatally shot an unarmed black man says her daughter-in-law is grieving for the victim’s family and isn’t prejudiced.
Without passing any judgments one way or the other on whether Mr. Crutcher’s actions warranted the shot fired by Officer Shelby, one thing is 100% clear, and that is that Terence Crutcher’s hands were not raise when he was shot, but down by his side.
Shelby, who is white, was one of four police officers who were standing at the rear bumper of Crutcher’s auto as he stood next to his vehicle around 7:45 p.m. Friday.
Shelby was not immediately available for comment. The case is the latest in a string of shootings of unarmed black men by USA police that have raised questions of racial bias.
“After watching the video and seeing what actually happened”, said Tiffany Crutcher, Terence’s twin sister, “we’re truly devastated”.
The Department of Justice is conducting a separate civil rights investigation.
Crutcher asked that if protests erupt in the wake of her brother’s death, they be peaceful.
Crutcher’s family is seeking charges in what they are calling a criminal act.
Crutcher, who was unarmed, was approached by police after his vehicle stalled near an intersection. The reason one officer drew a stun gun while another drew a handgun against the unarmed man remains unknown at this time, as does why he was considered a threat to officers in the first place.
Tulsa’s police chief, Chuck Jordan, said at a news conference on Monday that Crutcher was unarmed and did not have a weapon in his vehicle. On that day, Crutcher texted her to promise that he would complete his community college classes. Crutcher, a father of four, died in a local hospital. He says Shelby opened fire and another officer used a stun gun when Crutcher’s “left hand goes through the auto window”.
State and federal investigations into the shooting death are underway. Shelby is on paid administrative leave.
After Crutcher is hit, footage shows his limp and bloodied body lying on the roadway beside his vehicle.
“He’s got his hands up there for her now”, an officer could be heard saying in the video from the helicopter as it hovered overhead.
Crutcher can be seen dropping to the ground.
“Time for a taser, I think”, one officer in the helicopter says in the video as Crutcher approaches the vehicle.
“Shots fired!” a female officer says.
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As shown above, Crutcher walks to the driver’s side door, and his right hand is still clearly raised.
