The lawyer for Betty Shelby, who fired the fatal shot, told reporters that Crutcher wasn’t cooperating with her initially and had behaved “erratically”, which might explain why she was jittery as Crutcher approached his auto. This, though, is certain: “Too many people are dead who shouldn’t be”.
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Police video shows Crutcher walking toward his SUV, which is stopped in the middle of the road. A female officer is following him. “To me it looked like he did everything you’re supposed to do”, said Trump at a campaign event in Cleveland. He then drops to the ground.
“We will achieve justice in this case”, Jordan said. Then nearly immediately, someone can be heard yelling, “Shots fired!” and Crutcher is left lying in the street. Meanwhile, the Crutcher family is left to protest and grieve over the latest example of anti-black violence by law enforcement.
The officers slowly back away.
Emergency medical responders arrive about four minutes after he is shot.
No dashcam footage exists from Shelby’s auto because she didn’t activate her emergency lights – which in turn switches on the camera – when she came upon the abandoned vehicle in the roadway.
The long-time civil rights activist said he’s fed up with the killing of unarmed Americans by police officers.
Also absent is audio that could have captured exchanges between Crutcher and Shelby.
“He has his hands up and is facing the auto and looks at Shelby, and his left hand goes through the vehicle window, and that’s when she fired her shot”, Wood told the Tulsa World. “That big bad dude was a father”, she said. He promised a thorough investigation.
That might explain his behavior, but just because drugs were in the vehicle doesn’t mean they were in him at the time. In addition to the gunfire, a Taser also appears to have been used. Here is Shelby’s side of the story, according to her attorney and the police department. He was responding to a question by Pastor Darrell Scott. “But maybe people like that, people that choke, people that do that, maybe they can’t be doing what they’re doing. OK?”
Shelby’s attorney, Scott Wood, said Crutcher wasn’t following the officers’ commands and that Shelby was concerned because he kept reaching for his pocket as if he had a weapon. That man went to the auto, hands up, put his hands on the vehicle.
“Every day, police officers are serving with extraordinary honor, courage and skill”, she said. The Crutcher family’s lawyer said that even if he had used the drug, it would not justify his death, the AP reported.
He said Crutcher’s head was tilted but his eyes were on Shelby. Shelby tried to get Crutcher to talk to her, but he simply mumbled something unintelligible and stared at her, Wood said. She also believed he was reaching into the auto to retrieve a weapon, Wood said. An attorney for Crutcher’s family said the window on the vehicle was closed, disputing Shelby’s account.
Sharpton called allegations that Crutcher may have been under the influence of drugs “bogus”.
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“We demand immediate justice”. They spoke about polices, potential policy changes and how the Terence Crutcher shooting investigation was going so far.
