In a news conference Monday, Tulsa Police Chief Chuck Jordan revealed that Crutcher was unarmed.
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The death is the latest in a long line of fatal shootings by officers of black men that have led to racial tensions across the States.
Betty Shelby’s mother-in-law, Lois Shelby, said the officer is grieving for Crutcher’s family and isn’t prejudiced.
Dozens of protesters gathered outside the county courthouse Monday evening holding signs that read, “Justice 4 Crutch” and “Don’t Shoot”. “Right now, we need for them to arrest Betty Shelby”, said Marq Lewis, a member of the group We The People Oklahoma, during a protest on Monday.
What on earth did poor Terence Crutcher do to deserve killing?
“With something of this magnitude, we’re trying an approach that we believe is necessary to further that transparency”.
News and video of the shooting spread on social media.
Terence Crutcher, 40, was shot and killed Friday after officers responding to an unrelated call spotted his vehicle stalled in the middle of the roadway, Tulsa World reports.
One thing is certain, the minutes leading up to Officer Shelby pointing her gun at Crutcher and ultimately shooting him are missing. The Tulsa Police Department hired her in 2011 after she worked for the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office from June 2007 to November 2011, according to the police department.
Shelby’s dashcam was not activated during the incident.
The department said he was tasered and shot, and that no weapons were found on him or in his auto, the Times reported.
An investigation into a deadly officer-involved incident began Friday in Tulsa when 40-year-old Terence Crutcher, an unarmed man, was shot and killed.
The Tulsa police officer who shot Terence Crutcher thought that he was on PCP and behaving erratically, according to the officer’s attorney.
Helicopter video included controversial commentary from an officer saying Crutcher looked like a “bad dude”, a point Crutcher’s family pressed during their conference.
Police footage shows Terence Crutcher, who regularly attended church, walking away from officers with his hands up before being shocked with a stun gun and then fatally shot.
Attorney David Riggs said they have heard discussion that Crutcher was under the influence of a drug at the time of his encounter with police.
On Tuesday, attorneys for Crutcher’s family said that the video showed the driver’s side window was rolled up. In that video, a man in the helicopter that arrives above the scene as Crutcher walks to the vehicle can be heard saying “time for a Taser”.
Solomon-Simmons insisted Crutcher did not appear belligerent on the video, which he said is subjective.
The family’s lawyer accused police of treating Mr Crutcher “like a criminal”. “I think he’s smoking something”, said the caller.
The officer then told dispatchers that Crutcher was not cooperating.
Shelby has been placed on administrative leave.
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The officer has been identified as Shelby’s husband, Dave Shelby.
