Tulsa officer is charged with manslaughter in fatal shooting
A police officer in Tulsa, Oklahoma, has been charged with first-degree manslaughter in the fatal shooting of an unarmed man, a charge that carries a minimum sentence of four years in prison.
Prosecutors charged officer Betty Shelby in the Sept. 16 shooting death of Terence Crutcher, report the New York Times, the Associated Press and the Tulsa World. Shelby is white and Crutcher was black.
Video had shown Crutcher raising his hands as he walked toward his car. Shelby’s lawyer has said Crutcher was behaving erratically and did not obey police commands.
Shelby had said she feared for her life and had ordered Crutcher to get down on his knees, according to an affidavit. Though Crutcher was wearing baggy clothes, there was no indication he was carrying a weapon, the affidavit says.
Shelby fired her gun when Crutcher reached for the driver’s side window, and another officer fired his Taser at the same time, the affidavit says.
The charges allege that Shelby “reacted unreasonably by escalating the situation from a confrontation with Mr. Crutcher, who was not responding to verbal commands and was walking away from her with his hands held up, becoming emotionally involved to the point that she overreacted.”
