Stop us if you’ve heard this headline before – “Unarmed Black Man Killed By White Cop.” Unfortunately, that’s the headline we were treated to again today after what unfolded last week in Tulsa.
If you haven’t seen the video yet, we’ve included it below, but we want to set the stage before we get to the shooting. According to reports, police received a call about a stalled vehicle in the middle of the road. Here’s what a witness told police during the initial 911 call.
“Somebody left their vehicle running in the middle of the street with their doors wide open. The doors are open, the vehicle is still running. It’s an SUV. It’s in the middle of the street, it’s blocking traffic. The guy was running from [the vehicle, saying it was going to] blow up.”
Officer Betty Shelby was on her way to a domestic violence call when she got the report of the stalled vehicle and was the first officer to arrive on scene. It’s unclear exactly what happened when Officer Shelby was the lone officer on the scene, but she radioed to her dispatcher that “she’s not having cooperation” from the suspect, 40-year-old Terence Crutcher. Shelby noted that Crutcher was on the side of the road when she arrived, and then he approached her.
Shortly thereafter other officers arrived on scene, and a police helicopter circled above the scene to capture the video you’ll see below. As you can see on the video, Crutcher is seen slowly walking towards his SUV with his hands in the air. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, Officer Shelby opened fire, fatally wounding Crutcher. You can see the video captured by the police helicopter below. Viewer discretion is advised.
Details Still Emerging
Obviously it will take a while for more details to emerge, and although we likely won’t ever know exactly what happened on the ground, at the outset, it certainly seems like the officers failed to control the situation. Officers are specifically trained to deescalate a situation, and while we understand that’s not always possible and that they often have to make split second decisions, it seems like four officers with weapons drawn should be able to subdue a suspect who has his hands in the air without needing to discharge their firearm.
Reports suggest that one officer fired a Tazer at the same time that Officer Shelby fired her service weapon.
Thankfully, it appears that Chuck Jordan, Tulsa’s chief of police, understands the gravity of the actions taken by Shelby, as he called the video “very disturbing and difficult to watch.”
At a news conference on Monday, Jordan was very direct about the notion that Crutcher may have been armed. “I’m going to tell you right here now: There was no gun on the suspect or in the suspect’s vehicle,” Jordan said.
Officer Shelby has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of a criminal investigation.
