Terrence Crutcher was fatally shot by Tulsa police officer Betty Shelby on September 16. Today, first-degree manslaughter charges were filed against Officer Shelby.
From the AP Wire:
Prosecutors in Tulsa, Oklahoma, have filed first-degree manslaughter charges against the white police officer who fatally shot an unarmed black man on a city street.
District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler filed the charges Thursday against officer Betty Shelby, who shot and killed 40-year-old Terence Crutcher on Sept. 16. 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 attorney has said Crutcher was not following police commands and that Shelby opened fire when the man began to reach into his SUV window.
Tulsa police say Crutcher did not have a gun on him or in his vehicle.
We covered the initial and known facts of the case here.
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Comments
See? The system works. 🙂
–Andrew
I’m not so sure, though, that all the current unrest is only about the system working. Indeed, I think it is only about this in passing. The system be damned.
At least, this is my impression.
Officer Shelby has made some statements since yesterday.
While they didn’t strike me as especially incriminating, they didn’t make things any better, either.
I think Shelby knew she was in over her head with this guy and probably should have stepped back when the other officers arrived. Some people just don’t react well with non compliant individuals. If you take it personally, bad things can happen.