Officer Betty Shelby is out of jail on $50,000 bond. The attorneys also provided an enlarged photo from the police footage that appears to show the SUV’s window rolled up, which would contradict Shelby’s claim that Crutcher was reaching inside his vehicle.
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Mr Crutcher’s death along with the police killing of Keith Lamont Scott in Charlotte, North Carolina, have sparked protests in both cities.
Demonstrations in Tulsa since Mr Crutcher’s death have been consistently peaceful.
“Our Tulsa Police Department worked quickly to provide all the information to the District Attorney”, he said. She is expected to turn herself in.
“But I don’t think the charge was only to give the crowd some blood. No”.
According to an arrest affidavit, Shelby escalated the situation and overreacted.
Prosecutors in Tulsa, Oklahoma, charged Shelby, a white police officer who fatally shot an unarmed black man on a city street with first-degree manslaughter Thursday, Sept. 22, 2016.
In the charging document, Tulsa County District Attorney Steve Kunzweller called her actions “unreasonable”.
Per The Washington Post, Crutcher family attorney Benjamin Crump applauded the indictment and talked about next steps in a statement issued today.
“Not only for this family, not only for Terence but to be a deterrent for law officers all around this nation to know that you can not kill unarmed citizens”.
A screengrab from a video released by Tulsa police that showed the fatal shooting of Terence Crutcher as he stood next to his broken-down auto. What transpires from there is partially obscured from view, he can be seen falling to the ground as he is shocked with a stun gun by one officer and then fatally shot by Shelby.
An attorney for Ms. Shelby, a police officer since 2011, has said that she believed Mr. Crutcher posed a threat, was ignoring multiple commands to stop moving and get down on his knees, and that Ms. Shelby opened fire when he began to reach into his SUV window. According to the police, he was Tasered by officer Tyler Turnbough and shot by Shelby.
Officer Betty Shelby repeatedly told Crutcher to keep his hands out of his pockets and stop walking back to his auto, according to court papers filed yesterday in Tulsa County Court.
Shelby’s attorney says Crutcher was acting strangely when she approached him, and Shelby thought he might be reaching for a weapon in his vehicle.
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Mr Crutcher’s twin sister Tiffany Crutcher said the family was pleased criminal charges were filed and called for a vigorous prosecution that would lead to a conviction. Crutcher, an unarmed black man was killed by a white Oklahoma officer Friday, Sept. 16, 2016, who was responding to a stalled vehicle.
