Betty Shelby has been identified as the officer who fatally shot 40-year-old Terence Crutcher.
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The video shows Crutcher, hands in the air, walking toward his vehicle followed by Shelby, who is pointing her pistol at him and is quickly joined by two other uniformed officers, who also level their pistols at the man.
The sister of Terence Crutcher said she is pleased Tulsa police officer Betty Shelby will face charges in the shooting death of her brother Terrence.
Shelby later told police she was in fear for her life and thought Crutcher was going to kill her, the document says.
“It is our responsibility to determine if the filing of a criminal charge is justified under the law”, Tulsa County District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler said. Even the Republican presidential nominee, Donald Trump, who has declared himself “the law and order candidate” and criticized the Black Lives Matter protest movement, said he was “very, very troubled” by the incident.
A first-degree manslaughter charge carries a sentence of at least four years in prison. “The family wants and deserves full justice, and full justice requires not just charges but a vigorous prosecution and a conviction to those who shot and killed Terence for no reason”. “She knew that the vehicle had been cleared and it’s evident, from the photograph and the video, that the window was all the way up”.
In a statement, Oklahoma governor Mary Fallin said she hopes the decision brings peace to Crutcher’s family, but urged the community to be patient as the case works its way through the justice system and remember that Shelby is innocent until proven guilty.
Police Chief Chuck Jordan said Monday that Shelby had happened upon Crutcher’s vehicle at 36th Street North near Lewis Avenue while en route to an unrelated call.
“Although Mr Crutcher was wearing baggy clothes, officer Shelby was not able to see any weapons or bulges indicating and [sic] weapon was present”, Campbell said.
A former federal prosecutor says prosecutors in Tulsa were right to swiftly charge a white police officer with first-degree manslaughter in the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man. “We continue to pray together, mourn together and we will get through this together”.
District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler filed the charges Thursday against officer Betty Shelby, who shot and killed 40-year-old Terence Crutcher on September 16. She did not activate her patrol car’s dashboard camera, so no footage exists of what first happened between the two before other officers arrived. Dashcam and aerial footage of the shooting and its aftermath showed Crutcher walking away from Shelby with his arms in the air.
The Tulsa Police Department said it would make a determination on her employment status after an internal affairs review.
The shooting of Mr Terence Crutcher on Sept 16, recorded by dashboard cameras and a police helicopter, lead to heightened tensions between yet another United States police department and African-Americans.
Authorities have held back many details, citing the investigation, but police confirmed the discovery of PCP in Crutcher’s vehicle and that Shelby had a stun gun but did not use it.
Shelby’s attorney, Scott Wood, has said that Shelby completed drug-recognition expert training and thought Crutcher was acting like he might be under the influence of PCP. Crutcher, his white shirt stained with blood, lies on the ground for almost two minutes before an officer puts on medical gloves and begins to examine him.
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“The tragic circumstances surrounding the death of Mr. Crutcher are on the hearts and minds of many people in this community”, Mr Kunzweiler said.
