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Police in Tulsa, Oklahoma released video and audio clips Monday showing an officer fatally shooting an unarmed Black man who had his hands in the air, and the U.S Justice Department said it was looking into the incident as a possible civil rights violation.
Officer Betty Shelby shot Terence Crutcher, whose sport utility vehicle broke down Friday, police said. Crutcher was pronounced dead at an area hospital.
In one video shot from a police helicopter, Crutcher is seen with his hands in the air, followed by an officer with a drawn weapon. He then puts his hands on the vehicle.
One of the officers in audio from the helicopter says Crutcher is not following instructions. Another says, "that looks like a bad dude too, could be on something." Crutcher then drops to the ground and a female officer can be heard on police radio saying, "Shots fired."
Crutcher is then seen on his back and bleeding from his torso.
In a police dashcam video, another angle shows one officer with a weapon drawn trailing Crutcher as he walks to the vehicle. A pop is heard and Crutcher falls a few seconds later.
“We think he may have just been tasered,” a man's voice is heard on a police radio. “Shots fired,” a woman’s voice then says.
The case comes as U.S. police faces increasing criticism for the killing of unarmed civilians, typically Black people and other people of color, sparking nationwide protests, as well as a fierce debate over racism in policing.
"We will achieve justice in this case,” Tulsa Police Chief Chuck Jordan told a news conference, adding that the video was released as a matter of transparency and added that he found the videos "very disturbing, very difficult to watch."
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Crutcher's family said it was seeking criminal charges against the police officers involved. "Without a doubt we believe this was an unjustified shooting that should not have happened,” family Attorney Damario Solomon-Simmons said at a separate news conference.
One officer, identified as Tyler Turnbough, used his taser on Crutcher, Tulsa police said, adding that Shelby fired her gun at the man. She has been placed on administrative leave. Crutcher did not have a weapon on him or in his vehicle, police said, providing few details on the incident.
The U.S. Department of Justice has launched a separate civil rights inquiry into the officers’ use of force, U.S. Attorney Danny Williams from the Northern District of Oklahoma said Monday.
According to human rights activists and organizations, Black people in the U.S. are far more likely to be shot at, arrested and imprisoned by police than any other demographic group.
A 2012 study by the Malcolm X Grassroots movement revealed that a Black person was killed by police or surrogate personnel every 28 hours in the United States.
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