By Bob Walsh
Tulsa PD Officer Betty Shelby has been ordered to stand trial in the shooting death of an unarmed black man back in September.
Officer Shelby came across a vehicle driven by Terence Crutcher, 40. His SUV was parked straddling the center line of a two-lane road. He was acting "strangely" and did in fact have PCP in his system. Crutcher ignored several orders to stop and walked towards the SUV with his hands up. He then (according to Officer Shelby) reached into the van thru an open window. She asserts she believed he was reaching for a weapon and fired at him at pretty much the same instant a second officer on the scene fired a Taser at him. Her lawyer says Shelby was unaware of the Taser deployment due to the stress phenomenon known as auditory exclusion (which is a real thing and often comes with time shifts and tunnel vision). Crutcher died of gunshot wounds.
Officer Shelby is being prosecuted for first-degree manslaughter. She turned herself in and was pretty much immediately freed on $50,000 bail.
Crutcher's family, none of who were present at the scene, assert that the window was in fact NOT down and that Crutcher could therefore not have reached inside. Fortunately there is decent dash camera footage and aerial footage of the scene as the shooting went down and it may be able to determine the truth of the matter, though Officer Shelby was lined up somewhat behind the SUV and may not have been able to see the window herself.
Officer Shelby's next court appearance will be December 15.
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