‘AUDITORY EXCLUSION’ BLAMED FOR TULSA SHOOTING

A lawyer for a white Oklahoma police officer charged in an unarmed black man’s death says she was so hyper-focused on the situation that she didn’t hear other officers arrive or the deadly gunshot she fired.

Tulsa officer Betty Shelby experienced what is commonly called “auditory exclusion,” a condition in which people in high-stress situations often don’t hear sounds around them, attorney Scott Wood said. A not guilty plea to a first-degree manslaughter charge was entered on Shelby’s behalf Friday.

“It’s not only a common phenomenon described in literature, but it’s the No. 1 perceptual distortion by people I have represented who have been involved in shootings — diminished sound or complete auditory exclusion,” Wood said.