Police Officer Charged With First Degree Manslaughter

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http://heavy.com/news/2016/09/betty-shelby-tulsa-police-officer-cop-manslaughter-charges-arrest-mugshot-documents-terence-crutcher-shooting-sentence/

Juan Palma, Writer

Recently, a video from Tulsa, Oklahoma surfaced, showing resident Terrence Crutcher getting shot by police officer Betty Shelby. The video showed the innocent man walking up to the officers with his hands raised; the police made him walk back to his car and stay there. They reported that he reached for a weapon in his car, so police officer Betty Shelby opened fire, killing him. The police officers believed that he could’ve had a gun in his car, which they later found out that there was not a single weapon in Crutcher’s vehicle.

Terrence’s family wanted the officer charged, and a few days after, she turned herself into authorities and was charged with first-degree manslaughter and released on a fifty thousand dollar bail. If she is convicted she could face four years to life in prison. According to court documents, Betty “unlawfully and unnecessarily” opened fire on Terrence Crutcher because he supposedly wasn’t listening to the police officers orders.

Scott Wood, Shelby’s lawyer, said she believes Crutcher was under the influence of PCP. “She felt like he had exhibited enough clues that he could have a gun in his pocket.” Police sergeant Dave Walker stated that investigators found the drug in his vehicle. Crutcher’s attorney said even if they found drugs, it didn’t justify the murder. Terrence’s twin sister Tiffany said, “This is a small victory.”