The incident was caught on dashcams from each officer as well as the police department’s helicopter camera.
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Terence Crutcher, left, with his arms up is pursued by police officers as he walks next to his stalled vehicle moments before he was shot and killed by one of the officers in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
A police spokesperson also said that officers responding to the scene thought Crutcher reached his hands into the driver’s side window of his vehicle. 19, 2016, that an investigation is underway into the shooting death.
Tulsa police have been involved in 24 officer-involved fatal shootings since 2007, according to a local paper, Tulsa World.
Tulsa County District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler said his office will review police reports and evidence in the shooting.
About a dozen people gathered outside the Tulsa courthouse to protest the shooting.
As he reached an SUV parked in the middle of a two-lane road, an officer fired a single, ultimately deadly, shot at Crutcher.
“So I guess it’s a crime now to be a big black man”, Crump said. This does not mean Shelby was justified in shooting him, but it does complicate the narrative.
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. “This is clearly a case of excessive force”.
On Friday, September 16th, 40-year-old Terence Crutcher was shot and killed by a white Tulsa, Oklahoma female police officer named Betty Shelby, even though he had his hands in the air and was unarmed.
The officers who approached Crutcher, 40, were initially responding to what police described as a stalled vehicle.
Tulsa Police Sgt. Dave Walker confirmed to the Tulsa World (http://bit.ly/2d6cYIh ) that investigators recovered a vial of PCP in Terence Crutcher’s SUV. The graphic video, released by police this week, shows Crutcher walking toward his SUV with his hands up and his back to multiple officers.
Family attorney Melvin Hall said Crutcher posed no threat to the officers.
The time code in the video taken from the dashcam of Officer Tyler Turnbough shows that Crutcher was shot around 1:50 into the recording.
Tulsa Police Sgt. Shane Tuell tells The Associated Press that officer Betty Shelby was certified on the use of stun guns. But while Jordan is making “the right noises”, Professor Armour says, “a lot of these expressions of concern by the police chief just sound hollow when not backed up by concrete reform”.
Video reveals that Crutcher was not reaching for a weapon, nor trying to escape; none of the usual things police defenders like to blame for police brutality.
A police helicopter above also filmed Crutcher’s shooting and officers in the helicopter were heard saying the pastor looked like a “bad dude” moments before he was shot.
At a news conference Monday, the police chief told reporters that Crutcher was unarmed.
She called for backup when Crutcher allegedly did not comply to her demands.
“There were several officers on the scene”, Crump said. Terence Crutcher was described by The Today Show as an “unarmed father of four, with auto trouble”. That big bad dude, that’s who he was.
Local and federal investigators are looking into whether or not criminal or civil rights charges against the responding officers are warranted. The prosecutor called Crutcher’s death “a tragic event” but declined further comment on the case, citing the ongoing investigation.
“He has his hands up and is facing the auto and looks at Shelby, and his left hand goes through the vehicle window, and that’s when she fired her shot”, said Wood, who could not be reached for comment on Tuesday.
“Terence Crutcher should be alive right now”, King says.
“That big “bad dude”, his life mattered”, she told a separate news conference on Monday.
Shelby’s attorney, Scott Wood, said Crutcher was not following the officers’ commands. Both officers were placed on administrative leave with pay.
A pop is heard as he appears to place his hands on the vehicle and he falls a few seconds later. Crutcher was on the side of the road, away from his vehicle.
Crutcher can be seen dropping to the ground.
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Crutcher’s legal issues include drug trafficking, obstructing and resisting an officer and petty larceny.
