It’s unclear what compelled Shelby to draw her gun or what verbal exchange officers might have had with Crutcher, as her patrol car’s dashboard camera was not activated.
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District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler filed the charges against officer Betty Shelby on Thursday, a full six days after multiple cameras showed her shooting 40-year-old Terrence Crutcher as he stood beside his stalled sport-utility vehicle.
Prosecutors charged officer Betty Shelby in the September 16 shooting death of Terence Crutcher, report the New York Times, the Associated Press and the Tulsa World.
“The tragic circumstances surrounding the death of Mr. Crutcher are on the hearts and minds of many people in this community”, Kunzweiler said as he announced the felony charge against Shelby.
Attorneys representing Crutcher’s family and an attorney for Shelby offered conflicting accounts of what happened when Shelby encountered Crutcher.
She pulled over and asked Crutcher if the vehicle belonged to him and if it broke down, court papers state.
Her lawyer has said Crutcher was not following police commands and that Shelby opened fire when the man began to reach into his 4WD window. Shelby’s lawyer has said Crutcher was behaving erratically and did not obey police commands.
Two separate videos, one from a helicopter and one from a dash cam, show Crutcher walking over to his auto with his hands up as the police approach. “When she began following Mr. Crutcher to the vehicle with her duty weapon drawn, she was yelling for him to stop and get on his knees repeatedly”.
The affidavit says Shelby told police homicide investigators that “she was in fear for her life and thought Mr. Crutcher was going to kill her”.
“We’re demanding full prosecution”, said Crutcher’s twin sister, Tiffany Crutcher.
The affidavit said an officer flanking Shelby used a Taser on Crutcher, who was standing facing his vehicle.
Crutcher can be seen in two videos provided by Tulsa police on Monday with his hands in the air shortly before he was shot. However, news reports say he wasn’t the officer in the helicopter who is heard on the released audio calling Crutcher a “bad dude”, a comment that also generated outrage in the community and from Crutcher’s family.
Shelby was charged with first-degree manslaughter, which is punishable by a minimum of four years in prison.
The Tulsa killing was the first of a string of deaths of Black men at the hands of police officers across the nation within the past week.
“Officer Shelby, although now charged, is presumed to be innocent under the law until a judge or jury determines otherwise”, Kunzweiler said in a statement. “We need to pray for wisdom and guidance”.
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Kunzwieler’s announcement, which can be seen in the video above, came after reviewing dash cam video and helicopter video of the shooting as well as a review of 911 calls, witness interviews and other evidence related to the incident.
