Terence Crutcher, a 40-year old Oklahoma resident, was shot and killed by police officers in Tulsa on Friday. The tragic incident is now creating headlines around the country because dashboard footage has been released to the public that appears to depict an unarmed Crutcher with his arms in the air, just prior to losing his life. We’ve shared the graphic video below: Terence Crutcher: Shot and Killed by Police The encounter took place around 7:40 p.m. on September 16 after four officers responded to reports of an abandoned vehicle on a road. As you can see above, the cops converge on Crutcher quickly, walking him toward the car in question. He’s wearing a white t-shirt and his hands are in the air. He is then Tasered by one officer (later identified as Tyler Turnbough) and fatally shot by Betty Shelby, the Tulsa Police Department has confirmed. The view from both a dashboard camera and a helicopter camera is obstructed in the moments before those actions. But you can see Crutcher fall to the ground at one point. Tulsa Police Chief Chuck Jordan said at a news conference Monday that Crutcher was unarmed; he did not have a weapon in his vehicle, either. Shane Tuell, a police spokesman, said Officer Shelby gave a statement to homicide detectives on Monday morning and is now on paid administrative leave. “I’m going to tell you right now that there was no gun on the suspect or in the suspect’s vehicle,” Jordan told reporters, adding: “I want to assure our community and I want to assure all of you and people across the nation who are going to be looking at this: we will achieve justice.” As part of their own press conference, Crutcher’s family and attorney said they have seen this video and cannot comprehend the justification for shooting their relative. “We ask for facts, we ask for answers, and we clearly got it through the video and we are devastated,” said Crutcher’s twin sister, Tiffany Crutcher. “The entire family is devastated.” In an interview, Officer Shelby’s lawyer, Scott Wood, said his client had believed that Crutcher had a gun. Wood added that Crutcher was acting erratically and refusing to comply with several officer orders, attempting to put his hand in his pocket and reaching inside his car window before he was shot. However, a second video (filmed from a helicopter) has also emerged. Terence Crutcher Helicopter Video: What Happened? It depicts the same scene as the dashboard camera above and you can hear an officer in this video saying of Crutcher: “He’s got his hands up there for her now. This guy is still walking and following commands.” Responds another officer, speculating that the man below is about to be Tasered: “That looks like a bad dude, too.” Incidents of white police officers shooting and killing African-American citizens have been prevalent for several months now. Over the summer, the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile at the hands of police officers made national headlines. Alton Sterling: New Video Emerges of Deadly Louisiana Shooting Both were black and both lost their lives in confrontations with the police, seemingly in needless, irresponsible fashion. Just days after Castile’s death, a sniper opened fire at a Black Lives Matter rally in Dallas, killing five police officers in the process. Philando Castile: Minnesota Man Shot and Killed By Police, Death Caught on Video Tiffany Crutcher, playing on the words of a male on the video shot from the helicopter, said her brother was a good man who had his priorities in order. “That big bad dude was enrolled at Tulsa Community College,” she said. “He just wanted to make us proud. That big bad dude loved God.”
Read more from the original source:
Terence Crutcher: Shot, Killed by Tulsa Police Officers
