There’s no clear, standard formula investigators can rely on to answer the question of whether an officer’s belief that he or she’s in peril is reasonable, a former federal prosecutor in Chicago said.
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The charging affidavit said Crutcher walked toward the officer, who asked him if the vehicle belonged to him.
It is unclear in the footage whether Mr Crutcher drops his hands at any point.
A Tulsa, Oklahoma police officer has been charged in the shooting death of an unarmed Black man in the city of Tulsa.
Mr Crutcher’s family said he posed no threat.
The shooting can be seen on two different videos provided by authorities – one from a police helicopter and the other from officer Tyler Turnbough’s dashboard camera.
Her lawyer says she fired because Crutcher was not following orders and, she believes, was reaching into his vehicle’s window.
Shelby’s attorney, Scott Wood, has told the Tulsa World the situation unfolded for almost two minutes before the police footage started.
The Crutcher family’s attorney said that the family didn’t know if the drugs were found in his vehicle, however, even if it were the case, it did not justify the shooting.
Attorney Damario Solomon-Simmons said: “We are happy that charges were brought, but let me be clear – the family wants and deserves full justice”.
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. Crutcher, his white shirt stained with blood, lies on the ground alone and unattended for almost two minutes before an officer puts on medical gloves and begins to examine him.
In a court filing, the Tulsa district attorney’s chief investigator Doug Campbell said Mr Crutcher was shot when reaching into his car’s driver’s side front window.
In this photo taken from video, The Rev. Joey Crutcher and Leanna Crutcher, parents of Terence Crutcher, stand at the podium at the National Action Network in New York, Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2016.
The Ida B. Wells Coalition Against Racism and Police Brutality in Kansas City captured a screenshot of Donald Ebert’s reply to an article about Terence Crutcher’s death in Tulsa last week.
Tulsa Community College says a ceremony will be held at noon Friday honoring Terence Crutcher, who was a student there. Nearly immediately, a woman’s voice yells on the police radio: “Shots fired!”
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It is “important to note that despite the heightened tensions felt by all, which seemingly beg for an emotional response and reaction, our community has consistently demonstrated a willingness to respect the judicial process”, Mr. Kunzweiler added, urging the public not to pass judgment on Ms. Shelby before she is granted due process.
