Photo: Tulsa County District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler addresses the media, Courtesy KJRH
Tulsa Police released video clips and audio files from Friday’s fatal shooting of Terence Crutcher on Monday Afternoon. The video had previously been shown to family members and community leaders on Sunday afternoon.
Officer Betty Shelby encountered Crutcher when she saw a car running in the middle of the street. As she was investigating the vehicle, she encountered Terence Crutcher and called for assistance after he failed to follow her commands.
[sc name=”Article Mobile Ad” ]
Officer Tyler Turnbough arrived and deployed his Taser and Officer Shelby fired one shot shortly after that.In the video, which does not begin until the last 30 seconds of the encounter, shows Shelby with her gun drawn and Crutcher walking away towards his vehicle.
Tulsa Police Chief Chuck Jordan described the video as “very disturbing” and “very difficult.” He said that “we will achieve justice” and that “covering up” is not in his or his staff’s DNA.
Tulsa County District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler lamented that we “need to protect the integrity of the process” and that “we are entitled to a presumption of innocence” when speaking at Monday’s press conference on the issue.
He asked citizens “to stand firm” in regards to the “rule of law.”
The United States Attorney with the Northern District of Oklahoma, Danny Williams, announced that the Department of Justice has opened a separate investigation on the shooting in regards to a “Federal Civil Rights” issue.
Calmness was continually stressed in the press conference with Tulsa City Councilor Jack Henderson stressing that “we need to sit back and wait and let the process take care of itself.”
Terance Crutcher is listed in the Oklahoma Department of Corrections website as serving a 10 year sentence in Trafficking in Illegal Drugs. He was released in May to serve parole until March 2017.
