Tulsa, Oklahoma, police released a disturbing video Monday of police shooting and killing an unarmed black man on Friday night. The video shows 40-year-old Terence Crutcher walking with his hands up in the middle of a two lane highway toward his SUV that had apparently stalled in the middle of the road. A female officer with her gun drawn trails Crutcher; several other officers arrive at the scene as Crutcher puts his hands on the driver’s side window. Moments later, the female officer fires her gun and Crutcher slumps to the ground. Tulsa Police Chief Chuck Jordan called the video “very disturbing.”
“It’s very difficult to watch,” Jordan said at a news conference Monday. “The first time I watched it I watched it with the family … we will do the right thing, we will not cover anything up.” Jordan said no weapon was found on Crutcher or in the vehicle. In addition to the gunfire, a Taser also appears to have been used. “It appears to be about two minutes after the Taser and firearm were shot at Crutcher before anyone goes close enough to the body to check on his condition,” the Tulsa World reports.
The Tulsa Police Department said they showed the video to the Crutcher family, in addition to community leaders, before it was released to the public “so they wouldn’t be blindsided by it.” Tulsa police officials identified the shooter as officer Betty Shelby and Tyler Turnbough as the officer who deployed his Taser. Both have been placed on paid administrative leave. The Department of Justice is conducting a civil rights investigation into the shooting.
