White Tulsa officer charged with manslaughter in black man’s death

TULSA, Oklahoma — Prosecutors charged a white Oklahoma police officer with first-degree manslaughter Thursday, less than a week after she killed an unarmed black man on a city street and just days after police released graphic videos, saying in court documents the officer “reacted unreasonably.”

Tulsa officer Betty Shelby fatally shot 40-year-old Terence Crutcher last Friday. The affidavit filed with the charge says 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.”

Tulsa County District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler said arrangements were being made for Shelby’s surrender.

The swift action in Tulsa stood in contrast to Charlotte, North Carolina, where police refused under mounting pressure Thursday to release video of the shooting of another black man this week and the National Guard was called in to try to head off a third night of violence. Demonstrations in Tulsa since Crutcher’s death have been consistently peaceful.

Dashcam and aerial footage of the shooting and its aftermath showed Crutcher walking away from Shelby with his arms in the air. The footage does not offer a clear view of when Shelby fired the single shot that killed Crutcher. Her lawyer has said Crutcher was not following police commands and that Shelby opened fire when the man began to reach into his SUV window.

But Crutcher’s family immediately discounted that claim, saying the father of four posed no threat to the officers. They also pointed to an enlarged photo from police footage that appears to show Crutcher’s window was rolled up. And police said Crutcher did not have a gun with him or in his vehicle.

The affidavit filed Thursday also indicates that Shelby “cleared the driver’s side front” of Crutcher’s vehicle before she began interacting with Crutcher, suggesting she might have known there was no gun on the driver’s side of the vehicle.

The affidavit says Shelby told police homicide investigators that “she was in fear for her life and thought Mr. Crutcher was going to kill her. When she began following Mr. Crutcher to the vehicle with her duty weapon drawn, she was yelling for him to stop and get on his knees repeatedly.”

Crutcher was wearing “baggy clothes” but Shelby “was not able to see any weapons or bulges indicating a weapon was present,” the affidavit states.