A white Tulsa, Oklahoma police officer was booked on a first-degree manslaughter charge and released on $50,000 bond on Friday, online jail records showed, after shooting dead an unarmed black man whose vehicle had broken down and blocked a road.
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U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch has announced that the federal government is looking into Crutcher’s death.
Kunzweiler said a warrant was issued for Shelby’s arrest and that she planned to surrender to officials, according to the Tulsa World.
Shelby was booked on first-degree manslaughter charges Friday and released shortly after that. Then she saw Crutcher and talked to him. A man inside a police helicopter overhead says: That looks like a bad dude, too.
Funeral services have been set for the Oklahoma man who was shot and killed last week by a Tulsa police officer.
Attorney Benjamin Crump, who is representing Crutcher’s family, was happy about the indictment and hopeful for a conviction.
The affidavit also indicates that Officer Shelby “cleared the driver’s side front” of Mr Crutcher’s vehicle before she began interacting with him. Crutcher’s family members say they have viewed video of the shooting and that the windows were closed.
Crutcher then reached in a auto window, after which Turnbough applied the stun gun and Shelby fired into Crutcher’s right lung area, sending him falling to the ground, the affidavit reads.
Shelby’s attorney says she though Crutcher was on drugs and had a gun.
Shelby faces anywhere between four years and a lifetime in jail for her crime.
Crutcher’s twin sister said her family is pleased with the charges.
An attorney for Mr. Crutcher’s family disputes the officer’s account, saying the auto window was rolled up and that Mr. Crutcher was putting his hands on top of the vehicle.
Tulsa Police Chief Chuck Jordan had said at a press conference on Monday that Shelby fired at Crutcher after telling a dispatcher that he was not cooperating. Shelby’s attorney said the officer thought Crutcher was behaving strangely and ignored her commands, and she was afraid he might be reaching for a weapon. 19, 2016, that an investigation is underway into the shooting death.
Fallin complimented Tulsa’s police chief, mayor, district attorney and citizens for helping to keep peace and order “during this hard time”.
She said the family is focusing on celebrating Terence Crutcher’s life and will push for increased transparency and accountability from law enforcement.
CNN reached out to Scott Wood, the attorney for Shelby, but has not received a response. Each of us at the end of our days will have to account for our own actions.
But, she cautioned, “we know the history of these cases”, referring to the countless other incidents where police officers were let off after killing a black civilian.
Another police officer who perceived the same threat deployed his Taser at the same time Shelby fired her weapon, Wood added.
He was shot killed Friday night in the Oklahoma city.
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The sheriff’s office later released a letter from Shelby in which she described using marijuana twice at parties when she was 18, NBC News reported.
