In a bid for transparency, they released the videos, one of which was taken from a police helicopter and the other from a dashboard camera in a patrol auto.
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No body camera footage exists, because Tulsa police have not implemented the devices for officers, despite receiving a federal grant to do so previous year.
Dashboard camera and aerial footage of the shooting and its aftermath showed Mr Crutcher walking away from Shelby with his arms in the air. The footage does not offer a clear view of the single shot that killed Crutcher. Shelby also said Crutcher was not cooperating, which is why she requested additional help from officers, according to Tulsa Police Chief Chuck Jordan.
In recent days, Crutcher’s family members have called for charges to be filed against Shelby, and lawyers representing the family have disputed claims that Crutcher reached into his vehicle moments before Shelby shot him. They say what appears to be blood on the auto after the shooting shows that the SUV’s window was closed, not open as police claim.
Crutcher died from a “penetrating gunshot wound of chest”, the Oklahoma state medical examiner’s office said Friday, classifying his death as a homicide. “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.
It says Crutcher was wearing “baggy clothes” but that Shelby “was not able to see any weapons or bulges indicating a weapon was present”. The case first goes to a judge, who will decide whether there is enough evidence for a trial.
Under Oklahoma law, a person can face a first-degree manslaughter charge if he or she kills someone “unnecessarily, either while resisting an attempt by the person killed to commit a crime or after such attempt shall have failed”, among other circumstances. Shelby’s attorney, Wood, has said that Shelby completed drug-recognition expert training and thought Crutcher was acting like he might be under the influence of PCP. “We’re going to break the chains of injustice. We’re going to break the chains of police brutality”, she added. “I appreciate their efforts as well as the District Attorney’s usual thorough evaluation of the rules of law for which we are all accountable”. “We will continue to be transparent to ensure that justice and accountability prevails”. But despite this the man is shot by Shelby.
Video footage of the fatal shooting incident and its aftermath showed the victim trying to walk away from the officer with his arms up in the air, appearing to comply with police officers and leaning against his auto.
Shelby was the first to respond to the scene Friday when someone reported that Crutcher’s vehicle was blocking traffic, according to police.
However, in contrast to the death of Crutcher, who police say was unarmed, police in Charlotte have said that Scott was armed with a gun, which his family disputes.
“I do not know why things happen in this world the way they do”, Kunzweiler said, according to the Associated Press.
CNN reached out to Scott Wood, the attorney for Shelby, but has not received a response.
Mr. Crutcher kept putting his hands in his pockets and Officer Shelby kept telling him to show his hands.
The charges come as the country is already on high alert after riots in Charlotte Tuesday and Wednesday injured at least 20 police officers and resulted in a demonstrator being shot and killed, the city of Charlotte says, by another demonstrator. Officers appear to wait more than 2½ minutes before approaching Crutcher while he bleeds in the street.
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Gov. Mary Fallin issued a statement, saying she prays that the decision to charge Shelby brings “some peace to the Crutcher family and the people of Tulsa”.
