White female cop who shot dead unarmed black pastor is CHARGED with first degree manslaughter

UPDATE: Unarmed Black preacher Terence Crutcher Fatally Shot By White Tulsa Cop Betty Shelby (Warning: Graphic Video)

• Betty Shelby shot and killed Terence Crutcher, 40, on September 16
• Footage of the shooting showed Crutcher with his arms in the air 
• If she is convicted of the felony, she faces life in prison  
• Shelby's lawyer has insisted the victim wasn't following police commands
• Police have claimed he was reaching through his car window for a gun
• But his family have insisted he did not own or carry a weapon 
• Cops have also said they found a vial of the drug PCP in Crutcher's SUV 
• Before the shooting, an officer in a helicopter was heard saying: 'That looks like a bad dude' 

A white police officer has been charged with first-degree manslaughter after she shot an unarmed black pastor dead while he had his hands up.

Prosecutors in Tulsa, Oklahoma, have filed charges against Betty Shelby after she fatally gunned down 40-year-old Terence Crutcher on September 16. 

Dashcam and aerial footage of the shooting and its aftermath showed Crutcher walking away from Shelby with his arms in the air. 

A warrant has been issued for her arrest and arrangements are now being made for her surrender. If convicted, she faces life in prison

Crutcher's death sparked huge protests, with demonstrators demanding Shelby's arrest.  

Betty Shelby (TOP) has been charged with first-degree manslaughter after shooting unarmed black man Terence Crutcher (BOTTOM) dead 

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VIDEO - Moment unarmed pastor was shot dead by police after they tasered him - despite having his hands in the air

An unarmed black man killed by a white Oklahoma officer who was responding to a stalled vehicle can be seen in police video walking away from officers and toward his SUV with his hands up before he approaches the driver's side door, where he drops to the ground after being shocked with a stun gun then fatally shot.

In Tulsa police helicopter footage that was among several clips released Monday showing the shooting of 40-year-old Terence Crutcher and its aftermath, a man in the helicopter that arrives above the scene as Crutcher walks to the vehicle can be heard saying "time for a Taser." He then says: "That looks like a bad dude, too. Probably on something."

Police Chief Chuck Jordan announced before the video and audio recordings' release that Crutcher had no weapon on him or in his SUV when he was shot Friday. It's not clear from the footage what led Betty Shelby, the officer who fired the fatal shot, to draw her gun or what orders officers might have given Crutcher. Local and federal investigations are underway to determine whether criminal charges are warranted in the shooting or if Crutcher's civil rights were violated.

Tiffany Crutcher speaks about her twin brother Terence Crutcher's fatal shooting at a news conference

Crutcher's twin sister, Tiffany Crutcher, called for charges Monday.

"The big bad dude was my twin brother. That big bad dude was a father," she said. "That big bad dude was a son. That big bad dude was enrolled at Tulsa Community College, just wanting to make us proud. That big bad dude loved God. That big bad dude was at church singing with all of his flaws, every week. That big bad dude, that's who he was."

Police video shows Crutcher walking toward his SUV that is stopped in the middle of the road. His hands are up and a female officer is following him. As Crutcher approaches the driver's side of the SUV, three male officers walk up and Crutcher appears to lower his hands and place them on the vehicle. The officers surround him, making it harder to see his actions from the dashboard camera's angle.

Crutcher can be seen dropping to the ground. Someone on the police radio says, "I think he may have just been tasered." One of the officers near Crutcher backs up slightly.

Then almost immediately, someone can be heard yelling, "Shots fired!" Crutcher's head then drops, leaving him completely lying out in the street.

After that, someone on the police radio can be heard saying, "Shots fired. We have one suspect down."

Officer Tyler Turnbough, who's also white, used a stun gun on Crutcher, police said.

The shooting comes just four months after former Tulsa County volunteer deputy Robert Bates was sentenced to four years in prison on a second-degree manslaughter conviction in the 2015 death of an unarmed black man. Shelby worked as a Tulsa County sheriff's deputy for four years before joining the Tulsa Police Department in December 2011, officials said. She has been placed on paid leave.

Officer Betty Shelby

The initial moments of Crutcher's encounter with police are not shown in the footage. Shelby did not activate her patrol car's dashcam, said police spokeswoman Jeanne MacKenzie, and the ground-level video released Monday came from the car of a second officer who arrived at the scene.

Initial police briefings indicated Crutcher was not obeying officers' commands, but MacKenzie said Monday she didn't know what Crutcher was doing that prompted police to shoot. Two 911 calls described an SUV that had been abandoned in the middle of the road. One unidentified caller said the driver was acting strangely, adding, "I think he's smoking something."

After the shooting, Crutcher could be seen lying on the side of the road, blood pooling around his body, for nearly two minutes before anyone checked on him. When asked why police did not provide immediate assistance once Crutcher was down, MacKenzie said, "I don't know that we have protocol on how to render aid to people."

The American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma, which also called for charges, said Crutcher was left to bleed while officers stood by. The group's executive director, Ryan Kiesel, said Crutcher's death shows "how little regard" Tulsa police have for the community's minorities.

Dozens of protesters gathered outside the county courthouse Monday evening holding signs that read, "Justice 4 Crutch" and "Don't Shoot."

With relations between police and blacks in Tulsa already uneasy, the community needs to be the place where change happens, Tiffany Crutcher said.

"This is bigger than us right here. We're going to stop it right here," she said.

U.S. Attorney Danny C. Williams said the Department of Justice's civil rights investigation into the shooting will be separate from a local one into whether criminal charges should be filed.

"The Justice Department is committed to investigating allegations of force by law enforcement officers and will devote whatever resources are necessary to ensure that all allegations of serious civil rights violations are fully and completely investigated," he said.

Speaking Monday in Tulsa, civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump said Crutcher committed no crime and gave officers no reason to shoot him.

"When unarmed people of color break down on the side of the road, we're not treated as citizens needing help. We're treated as, I guess, criminals — suspects that they fear," said Crump, who is representing Crutcher's family just as he did relatives of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed, black Florida teenager who was fatally shot by a neighborhood watch volunteer in 2012.

He said Tulsa police drew their own conclusions about Crutcher.

"So I guess it's a crime now to be a big black man," Crump said. "My God, help us."

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Associated Press writer Jill Bleed in Little Rock, Arkansas, contributed to this report.

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Black man is shot and killed by police in Oklahoma 'while raising his hands in the air' after his SUV stalled on the street

The Tulsa Police Department has released video footage in the fatal shooting of Terence Crutcher, who authorities now confirm was unarmed.

“I’m going to tell you right now, there was no gun on the suspect or in the suspect’s vehicle,” Police Chief Chuck Jordan said at a press conference Monday afternoon. “I want to assure our community and I want to assure all of you and people across the nation watching this: We will achieve justice.”

Crutcher, 40, was shot by Officer Betty Shelby, who is white, on Sept. 16 after police spotted his stalled car in the middle of the highway. Another officer, Tyler Turnbough, deployed his Taser during the encounter.

It’s not yet clear why Crutcher stopped his car on the road, however, police were responding to a report of an abandoned vehicle.

According to police, Crutcher refused orders moments before the fatal shot was fired.

In the video, Crutcher is seen walking with his hands up and eventually putting them on the side of his SUV. Police on the scene then surrounded him, making it difficult to see the tasing and eventually shooting.

“That looks like a bad dude, too,” an officer is heard saying in the video. Moments later, Crutcher was on the ground.

An emergency crew later transported him to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Since the day of the shooting, family and loved ones maintained that Crutcher wasn’t armed.

Crutcher’s twin sister Dr. Tiffany Crutcher previously told reporters that she knew the video’s release would cause outrage and pleaded for protesters to avoid violence.

“Let’s protest, let’s do what we have to do, but let’s do it peacefully, so we respect the culture of our family,” she said.

• Terence Crutcher was first tasered by officer Tyler Turnbough and then fatally shot by officer Betty Shelby on Friday night in Tulsa, Oklahoma 
• Police released footage of the shooting on Monday
• It shows Crutcher with his hands in the air as he is surrounded by four cops
• After speaking with him for a few seconds Shelby shoots, firing one shot  
• Crutcher had no weapon in his possession, police confirmed 
• Shelby has been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation  

Tulsa police have released devastating dashboard camera footage of the fatal shooting of a local pastor Friday night, showing he was unarmed and had his hands in the air at the time of his death. 

Terence Crutcher was first tasered by Tulsa officer Tyler Turnbough and then shot once by officer Betty Shelby before he died in the hospital on Friday, police spokesperson Jeanne MacKenzie said. 

Police said that Crutcher approached the officers after his SUV broke down on the road, but refused commands to raise his hands and reached inside the vehicle.

However the footage, which was released Monday, shows Crutcher did have his hands up as police approached. It shows four officers surrounding Crutcher by his car when one of them - identified as Shelby - shot him.

Tulsa Police officer shoots unarmed Terence Crutcher

Footage released Monday shows Terence Crutcher broken down and with his hands in the air as police approached him on Friday. He was shot dead at the scene by a female officer 

Four police officers are seen surrounding Crutcher by his car. One of the officers, Betty Shelby, discharged her weapon. The shot killed Crutcher , who is seen here lying on the ground

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A 40-year-old black man was fatally shot by a police officer while his hands were raised in the air, according to a local pastor who reviewed the surveillance footage.

Terence Crutcher was first tasered by Tulsa officer Tyler Turnbough and then shot once by officer Betty Shelby before he died in the hospital on Friday, police spokesperson Jeanne MacKenzie said. 

According to the police, Crutcher approached the officers after his SUV broke down on the road, but refused commands to raise his hands and reached inside the vehicle. 

Gunned down: Terence Crutcher, 40, pictured with his twin sister, Tiffany, was shot dead by a police officer in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Friday 

Cops: Crutcher was first tasered by Tulsa officer Tyler Turnbough (left) and then fatally shot once by officer Betty Shelby (right)

Police work the scene of Terence Crutcher's shooting in Tulsa, where they say the 40-year-old had ignored repeated requests to put up his hands before reaching into his SUV 

Lingering questions: Authorities haven't yet said whether Crutcher had a weapon when he was shot Friday while reaching into his stalled SUV.

But Rodney Goss, a pastor at the Morning Star Baptist Church who viewed footage from two dashboard cameras and a police helicopter with Crutcher's family, reported a different version of events, Tulsa World reported.

He said Crutcher, who had his hands in the air, was seeking help, but was Tasered and shot simultaneously, even though he never reached inside the vehicle or did anything that would have 'been considered a threat toward the officer'.

Goss, who was appalled by the footage, said it was 'a couple minutes' before either of the officers approached Crutcher and checked for a pulse. 

'It was not apparent at any angle from any point that he lunged, came toward, aggressively attacked, or made any sudden movements that would have been considered a threat or life-threatening toward the officer,' Goss told Tulsa World.   

He added, 'His hands were in the air from all views.' 

Police have not said whether a weapon was found. Officials said that information, along with audio and video of the incident, will be released later on Monday.  

Crutcher (left and right) had left class at Tulsa Community College Friday night when his SUV stalled in the street

Heartbroken: Attorney Damario Solomon-Simmons, left, comforts Tiffany Crutcher, twin sister of Terence Crutcher. At right is Rev. Joey Crutcher, her and Terence's father

Crutcher's twin sister, Tiffany Crutcher, told reporters Saturday that the family is heartbroken and she does not believe Crutcher was carrying a gun.

'We just want answers, we want to know what happened, there's a lot of speculation, but there is one thing, one fact that I do know is that my brother was unarmed,'' she said. 'I'm just devastated.'

She said her brother had left a class at Tulsa Community College when his SUV stalled on East 36th Street North at around 8pm.

An attorney for the Crutcher family, Damario Solomon-Simmons told reporters Saturday that Crutcher was in the area because his car stalled and officers saw him while on an unrelated call and approached.

'From that point, I do not know what occurred. We have no idea, and that's what is so difficult for us and the family,' Solomon-Simmons said. 'That's our job, to try to get answers for this family as they're mourning.'

Jeanne MacKenzie, the Tulsa police spokesperson, said an officer responding to another call saw the vehicle in the middle of the road and called for backup, and the two officers were walking toward the SUV when Crutcher approached them from the side of the road.

Police say Crutcher (left and right) refused to follow commands to raise his hands. His sister said her sibling was unarmed 

'He refused to follow commands given by the officers,' MacKenzie said. 'They continued to talk to him, he continued not to listen and follow any commands.'

Officer Shelby, who fired the fatal shot, has been placed on routine paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation. 

The results of the probe will be sent to Tulsa County District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler, who will determine whether the shooting was justified.

'It's obviously a very high-profile matter,' Kunzweiler said Sunday, while declining to comment about the Crutcher case.

Tulsa Police Sergeant Shane Tuell said they allowed community leaders to view the footage because he didn't want people to be 'blindsided' by it.

'We wanted to be able to have that intimate time with them, with their attorney, to see if they had any questions or concerns,' he said. 'With something of this magnitude, we're trying an approach that we believe is necessary to further that transparency.' 

Online court records show Terrence Crutcher of Tulsa with the same date of birth as the man who was killed pleaded no contest in 1996 to carrying a concealed weapon and resisting an officer and was given a six-month suspended sentence.

His only other court records were for traffic violations, the most recent occurring in 2005.