Michael Hernandez
20 September 2016•Update: 21 September 2016
WASHINGTON
Tulsa Police Chief Chuck Jordan promised Tuesday that justice would be done following a fatal police shooting of a black man in the state of Oklahoma.
Video shows Terrence Crutcher, 40, walking away from police with his hands raised in the air.
As he reached an SUV parked in the middle of a two-lane road, an officer fired a single, ultimately deadly, shot at Crutcher. At the same time, another officer fired a stun gun at the victim.
White police officer Betty Jo Shelby, 42, fired the fatal gunshot.
Her attorney told the Tulsa World newspaper that the situation unfolded over a span of roughly two minutes before the publicly available footage began.
Attorney Scott Wood said Crutcher repeatedly failed to comply with Shelby’s commands and reached toward or into his pockets on several occasions despite Shelby’s orders not to do so.
Wood said Shelby fired only after Crutcher reached his left hand into the car’s window.
“He has his hands up and is facing the car and looks at Shelby, and his left hand goes through the car window, and that’s when she fired her shot,” Wood said, according to the newspaper.
No gun was found on Crutcher or in his car.
The gun and taser were fired simultaneously because the officers saw the same threat, Wood said.
The Department of Justice said Monday it is independently investigating the shooting to determine if federal civil rights violations occurred.
“The Justice Department is committed to investigating allegations of excessive force by law enforcement officers and will devote the resources necessary to ensure that all allegations of serious civil rights violations are fully and complete investigated,” U.S. Attorney Danny Williams told a press conference in Tulsa.
The Tulsa World said the hallucinogenic drug PCP, was found inside Crutcher’s car, according to homicide detective Sgt. Dave Walker.
The shooting has again raised questions about the use of deadly force by police, particularly in confrontations involving black men.
Basketball superstar Dwayne Wade appealed for black solidarity in an Instagram post with a picture that featured a black background with the simple word “#TERENCECRUTCHER” in white.
“We must show our strength as a Black Community MORE! Or we will continue to wake up to stories of US being shot down like WE don't matter,” he wrote. “We must show that we matter to each other MORE! We must all do MORE!"
