Tulsa police officer Betty Shelby, identified as the officer who shot
40-year-old Terence Crutcher on Friday night, has offered her side of
the story in the fatal encounter.
In dashcam and helicopter video released by police, Crutcher appears to
have his hands up moments before he is shot by Shelby. Shelby's
attorney, Scott Wood, maintains that Crutcher refused to follow more
than two dozen commands and that he reached into the open window of the
car before Shelby perceived a threat and shot him.
The Crutcher family's attorneys Benjamin L. Crump and Damario
Solomon-Simmons said the window was up, evidenced by the blood spattered
on it when he was shot.
The Department of Justice is investigating Shelby's use of force.
Here is Shelby's side of the story, according to her attorney and the police department.
Shelby Was Responding to a Different Incident
At about 7:36 p.m. Friday, dispatchers received a 911 call about an
abandoned SUV in the middle of a street, with the driver's door open and
the engine still running, Tulsa Police Chief Chuck Jordan said Monday.
The caller said a man was running from the vehicle, saying it was "going
to blow."
Shelby and another officer were on their way to a domestic violence call when she came across the SUV, Jordan said.
On her way to that call, Shelby saw Crutcher standing in the middle of
the road, looking down at the ground, Wood said, adding that she would
have stopped and checked up on him had she not been on the other call.
She then saw the SUV parked in the middle of the street, obstructing
traffic in both directions, Wood said. The engine was running when she
got there, which she found odd because she assumed it was either
disabled or broken down, he said.
The Encounter Started More Than a Minute Before What Is Shown on the Released Video
Wood said "it's important to remember" that Shelby was on the scene with
Crutcher for about a minute and a half before the start of the video
clip released by police on Monday.
When Shelby approached the car, the doors were closed, and the windows
were open, Wood said. She looked into the passenger's side to make sure
no one was on the floor of the car, and as she was getting ready to move
to the driver's side, she turned around and saw Crutcher walking toward
her, Wood said.
Wood said that Shelby then said to Crutcher, "Hey, is this your car?"
Crutcher didn't respond, simply dropping his head while continuing to
look at Shelby, "kind of under his brow," Wood said. Crutcher then began
to put his hand into his left pocket, Wood said, adding that Shelby
told Crutcher, "Hey, please keep your hands out of your pocket while
you're talking to me. Let's deal with his car."
Crutcher did not respond, Wood said, so Shelby ordered him again to get
his hand out of his pocket. He then pulled his hand away and put his
hands up in the air, even though he was not instructed to do so, which
Shelby found strange, Wood said.
Shelby tried to get Crutcher to talk to her, but he simply mumbled
something unintelligible and stared at her, Wood said. He then turned
and walked to the edge of the roadway and turned to look at her, his
hands still in the air, Wood said. He put his hands down and started to
reach into his pocket again, Wood said, and she ordered him again to get
his hands out of his pocket.
At this point, Shelby, a drug recognition expert, believed Crutcher was "on something," Wood said, possibly PCP.
Shelby then radioed in that she had a subject "who is not following commands."
"You can kind of hear a degree of stress in her voice when she says that," Wood said.
Shelby then pulled out her gun and had Crutcher at gunpoint as she
commanded him to get on his knees, Wood said. She pulled out a gun
instead of a Taser because she thought he had a weapon, and she was
planning to arrest him for being intoxicated in public and possibly
obstructing the investigation, Wood said.
Shelby ordered Crutcher to stop multiple times as Crutcher walked toward the SUV with his hands up, Wood said.
But those orders cannot be heard in the audio from the dashcam video,
which starts as another patrol car pulls up to the scene, showing
Crutcher walking toward the SUV with his hands up as Shelby follows him,
apparently with her weapon drawn and pointing at Crutcher.
Crutcher Allegedly Attempted to Reach Into the SUV
As the video from the helicopter begins, Crutcher was "angling" toward
his car while Shelby repeatedly commanded him to stop, Wood said. His
hands were still in the air.
"As a police officer, you have to wonder — why would someone ignore
commands at gunpoint to get to a certain location?" Wood said.
Crutcher's arms came down, and he turned to face the car, Wood said, and
he reached into the driver's side window with his left hand. That's
when Shelby fired one shot and a fellow officer, Tyler Turnbough,
deployed a Taser, Wood said.
Shelby believed that when Crutcher attempted to reach into the car, he
was retrieving a weapon, Wood said. In her interview with homicide
detectives, she said, "I was never so scared in my life as in that
moment right then," according to Wood.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/tulsa-police-officer-shares-side-story-terence-crutcher/story?id=42243843
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