Forty-year-old Terrence Crutcher had just left night classes he was taking at the Tulsa Community College when his SUV broke down. The car was stalled in the middle of a two lane road. Tulsa police came upon him and within about 10 seconds, Tulsa Police Officer Betty Shelby had shot and killed the unarmed man. Jeane McKenzie is the police spokesperson:
"He refused to follow commands given by the officers," MacKenzie said. "They continued to talk to him, he continued not to listen and follow any commands. As they got closer to the vehicle, he reached inside the vehicle and at that time there was a Taser deployment and a short time later there was one shot fired."
According to police, which these days does not mean what it should mean, one of the officers deployed a taser after Mr. Crutcher refused to obey their orders, and then officer Shelby decided to use a real gun. That was two days ago. Today, Tulsa police released footage from a police vehicle dash cam that show the last moments of Mr. Crutcher’s life.
Chief Chuck Jordan said he found the video "very disturbing — very difficult to watch."
He also explained some of the basic facts, including that no gun was found on Crutcher or in his vehicle. He did not elaborate because of what he called a pending criminal investigation.
"It will come out," Jordan said of the details surrounding the fatal shooting. "I will make this promise to you: We will achieve justice in this case."
It’s pretty clear that Crutcher walks slowly with his hands in the air. Whether he reaches into his car or puts his hands up against the side of the car is hard to see. If these officers were unable to deal with this situation without murdering a man with his hands in the air, they should not only be fired but prosecuted to fullest extent of the law. District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler said everyone needs to be patient, because that’s what law enforcement and prosecutors do in these cases—they tell everyone to be patient.
Mr. Crutcher comes into frame around 1:40. Warning: graphic.