During a press conference on Monday, Tulsa Police Chief Chuck Jordan called the video footage “very disturbing – it’s very hard to watch”.
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The officer who shot Crutcher has been identified as Betty Shelby, who has worked for the Tulsa Police Department since December 1, 2011.
The Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice will also conduct an independent investigation of the shooting.
Police said the shooting occurred after an officer stopped to investigate a vehicle in the middle of a road.
Aerial video shows Crutcher has his hands up as he walked back to his vehicle.
In footage taken from a police helicopter, an officer can be heard saying: “He’s got his hands up there for her now.This guy is still walking and following commands”.
Crutcher is then seen to fall to the ground.
One of the officers near Mr Crutcher moves away slightly. He leans toward the SUV, places his hands on the auto, and then a shot can be heard. That caller says a man ran from the vehicle saying, “It’s going to blow”.
Officers had been called to the scene by passers-by who called in to report a vehicle abandoned in the road. She added, “I think he’s smoking something”.
Crutcher’s twin sister, Tiffany Crutcher, called for charges on Monday.
She added: “I lost my brother, my twin brother who was doing nothing wrong”.
She said it was clear to her that Terence died because of a Tulsa Police officer’s “negligence and incompetency and insensitivity”.
“That big bad dude was just a son”.
“I will just make this promise to you: We will achieve justice in this case”, Jordan said. That big “bad dude” was at church singing with all of his flaws, every week.
You all want to know who that big “bad dude” was.
Crutcher was on his way home from a music-appreciation class at a local community college in Tulsa, Oklahoma, when his SUV stalled around 7:40 p.m.
Almost a dozen protesters gathered outside the Tulsa County courthouse following the news conference, calling for justice in the case. “We wanted to be able to have that intimate time with them, with their attorney, to see if they had any questions or concerns”.
Damario Soloman-Simmons, attorney for Crutcher’s family, told Tulsa World that his understanding was that Crutcher was returning from class when his auto stalled on the road.
ACLU of Oklahoma Executive Director Ryan Kiesel says Crutcher’s death shows “how little regard” Tulsa police officers have for minority communities.
The U.S. Department of Justice has also opened a probe into the shooting.
The US police are accused of using excessive force against African-Americans.
Officer Shelby joined TPD in 2011 after being a deputy for more than five years. He stood beside his driver’s side window as several police officers stood behind him with their weapons raised.
The police indicate that Crutcher approached them when they arrived to assist him.
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‘So I guess it’s a crime now to be a big black man, ‘ Mr Crump said. “My God, help us”.
