Tulsa Police Officer Betty Shelby fatally shot Terence Crutcher on September 16, 2016. The shooting would make national headlines over rather the officer was justified for killing Crutcher. A trial resulting in an acquittal for Shelby and a series of protests would ensue in the months after the shooting.
Terence Crutcher was in born in Tulsa, Oklahoma on August 16, 1976 had four children, three daughters and a son with whom he lived with at the time of his death. Crutcher sung in a local church choir and was majoring in music at Tulsa Community College. Many of his friends and neighbors described him as a family man who was focused on his children. He also had a dream of becoming a gospel singer.
The encounter that ended in Crutcher’s death started while Shelby was responding to a call by passerby drivers who reported that a car was abandoned in the middle of the road. When the police arrived, they encountered Crutcher. According to Shelby, Crutcher had been non-compliant when directed by the police officers. Shelby believed Crutcher reached into his car for what she believed was a weapon. The video from a helicopter and a police car’s dashboard camera showed Crutcher with his hands up during the interaction before being stunned with a Taser and then shot.
Crutcher died immediately from the gunshot. Reactions to the event were nationwide, with many advocates calling the shootings racially motivated. The District Attorney for Tulsa County filed charges against Shelby for manslaughter. The officer was arrested but remained on paid leave during the trial. The prosecution focused on the unnecessary use of force by the officers, while Shelby’s defense attorneys argued that Crutcher was non-compliant, reached into his SUV, and had doses of PCP in his bloodstream according to the Oklahoma Medical Examiner’s office. Crutcher had some history of drug abuse early in his life, but the prosecution argued that none of Crutcher’s actions warranted lethal force.
On May 17, 2017, the jury found Shelby not guilty of a first-degree manslaughter charge. In response the Tulsa chapter of Black Lives Matter held a peaceful protest within the city, while Governor Mary Fallin urged those disagreeing with the verdict to “express their opinions peacefully.” Officer Shelby resigned from the department on August 3, 2017. Crutcher’s family would also file a civil suit for wrongful death against Shelby and the Tulsa police.
Sources:
“Family of Terence Crutcher, Tulsa Man Shot and Killed by Cop, Files Suit,” NBCNews.com. June 15, 2017, https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/family-terrence-crutcher-tulsa-man-shot-killed-cop-files-suit-n773161; Lenzy Krehbiel-Burton, “Trial starts of Oklahoma officer charged with manslaughter,” Reuters, May 10, 2017, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-oklahoma-police/trial-starts-of-oklahoma-officer-charged-with-manslaughter-idUSKBN1862CL; Lucia Walinchus, “A Black Driver Was Fatally Shot; a White Officer Faces a Jury,” The New York Times, May 10, 2017. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/10/us/tulsa-police-shooting-betty-shelby-terence-crutcher.html.
Greenlaw, M. (2017, October 21). Terence Crutcher (1976-2016). BlackPast.org. https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/crutcher-terence-1976-2016/
