Video released by the Tulsa Police Department shows the moments before 40-year-old Terence Crutcher was shot by a police officer Friday night.
Advertisement
This undated photo provided by the Tulsa Oklahoma Police Department shows officer Betty Shelby. She said Crutcher was behaving erratically and “had his head tilted down but eyes on and fixated on her”.
About 200 protesters gathered Tuesday evening outside the Tulsa Police Department.
The twin sister of Terence Crutcher continues to mourn the loss of her twin brother just one month after the pair’s 40th birthday.
A first-degree murder charge which can carry the death penalty in Oklahoma would seem highly unlikely, no matter what the investigation turns up, Berlin said.
The reaction on social media has been virtually unanimous.
The report says Shelby and other deputies drew their weapons – but did not fire them – as they searched for the suspect. One caller explained that “the guy was running from [the vehicle]” after he apparently told her the vehicle was going to “blow up”.
Crump told Tulsa World that even if Crutcher had used PCP that night, it still didn’t justify the use of lethal force.
Crutcher, a black man, was unarmed last week when he was fatally shot in the street by police.
Attorney Benjamin Crump said it was clear Crutcher was holding his hands up and that he was not moving in an aggressive manner.
David Riggs, an attorney for the Crutcher family, said Tuesday he’s not sure whether Crutcher was under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
“He wasn’t killed. So why was an unarmed black man who has committed no crime, who only needs a hand, given bullets in his lungs?”
Clinton concluded that while there are “good, honorable, cool-headed police officers” working across the country, “we can do better”. On Tuesday, the police department reported finding PCP in Crutcher’s vehicle.
When he gets to the vehicle, one officer teasers him, while Shelby simultaneously shot him.
Scott Wood, a lawyer for Shelby, told the Tulsa World that Crutcher ignored repeated commands from the officer.
In this image made from a Friday, Sept. 16, 2016 police video, Terence Crutcher, top, is pursued by police officers as he walk to an SUV in Tulsa, Okla. Crutcher was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead after he was shot by the officer around 8 p.m., Friday, police said.
Audio from the helicopter footage reveals one person saying “Also, got a feeling it’s about to happen”.
Terence Crutcher, right, was fatally shot by Officer Betty Shelby, left. Mr. Crutcher was shot less than 30 seconds after the second vehicle arrived. Celebrities have been reacting to the news of Crutcher’s death across the web today.
Artists react to the killing of an unarmed black man at the hands of a Tulsa police officer.
“Putting Terence’s killer and her companions behind bars won’t bring Terrence back, but it is a necessary part of repairing the broken bond between police and communities of colour, a rift that continues to claim lives”, Henderson said. As she was peering inside the vehicle, she turned around and saw Crutcher approaching her. “The video footage, however, shows him with hands in the air, he walks away from the police at a slow pace, leans against the vehicle, and that is when he was shot”.
Federal, state and local authorities are investigating the shooting.
A lawyer for Ms. Shelby, who is on administrative leave, couldn’t be reached Tuesday. He said that officers then encountered Crutcher, who the officers claim did not comply with their demands and appeared to reach into the vehicle. He left his vehicle in the middle of the road with the engine still running and approached a passerby for help. The officers surround him, making it harder to see his actions from the dashboard camera’s angle. Mr. Crutcher was shot moments later, and the helicopter camera captured footage of him sprawled on the pavement, his shirt stained with blood.
“I think he may have just been Tasered”, an officer said over the radio.
Crutcher’s legal issues include drug trafficking, obstructing and resisting an officer and petty larceny.
Advertisement
After that, someone on the police radio can be heard saying, “Shots fired”.
