Tulsa police officer charged with manslaughter

Wood says she then checked the inside of the SUV’s passenger side to make sure no one was on the floor, and upon moving to the driver’s side, saw Crutcher walking toward her in the street.

“I don’t know why things happen in this world the way they do”, he said. Those riots were sparked by the shooting death of another African-American man, Keith Lamont Scott, by police, in this case police in Charlotte. The National Guard has been called in to try to a head off a third night of violence.

Tulsa police have said Crutcher was unarmed and there was no weapon in the vehicle.

Tulsa mayor Dewey Bartlett said police worked quickly to provide Mr Kunzweiler with the information he needed to decide whether to charge the officer.

If convicted, she faces a minimum of four years behind bars.

According to an affidavit filed by the chief investigator for the Tulsa County District Attorney’s Office, Shelby “reacted unreasonably by escalating the situation from a confrontation with Mr. Crutcher”. Many citizens are now probing for more answers – when will this end?

Shortly after the charges were announced, Gov. Mary Fallin issued a statement, in which she said she hoped the decision to bring charges would bring some peace to the Crutcher family, while reminding Oklahomans that Shelby is innocent until proven guilty.

In a statement Thursday, Fallin complimented Tulsa’s police chief, mayor, district attorney and citizens for helping to keep peace and order “during this hard time”.

Betty Shelby charged with first degree manslaughter.

Shelby fatally shot 40-year-old Terence Crutcher after his SUV stopped in a roadway last week. She implored protestors to remain peaceful.

“We’re going to break the chain of police brutality”, she said, calling the charges against Shelby a “small victory”.

Video had shown Crutcher raising his hands as he walked toward his auto.

The Tulsa killing was the first of a string of deaths of Black men at the hands of police officers across the nation within the past week.

Prosecutors in Tulsa, Okla., filed first-degree manslaughter charges Thursday against the white police officer who fatally shot an unarmed black man on a city street. “We will continue to be transparent to ensure that justice and accountability prevails”.

Arrangements are being made for Shelby’s surrender.

Crutcher kept jamming his hands in his pockets, refusing Shelby’s orders to show him her hands, the affidavit states. However, news reports say he wasn’t the officer in the helicopter who is heard on the released audio calling Crutcher a “bad dude”, a comment that also generated outrage in the community and from Crutcher’s family.

Earlier this week, Wood said his client thought Crutcher was behaving strangely and ignored her commands, and that she was afraid that he might be reaching for a weapon.