Video Shows Unarmed Black Man Shot With Hands Up by Oklahoma Police

Dash and helicopter cams capture Terence Crutcher, 40, first Tasered, then shot by officers in Tulsa

Tulsa, Oklahoma police have released video footage of an unarmed black man being shot and killed by a white officer after police responded to a stalled vehicle on Friday.

Terence Crutcher, 40, can be seen in the video with both of his hands up, walking away from officers and toward his SUV when he is first Tasered by one officer and then shot by another, identified as Betty Shelby.

“He refused to follow commands given by the officers,” Tulsa police spokesperson Jeanne MacKenzie told reporters, according to The Washington Post. “They continued to talk to him; he continued not to listen and follow any commands. As they got closer to the vehicle, he reached inside the vehicle and at that time there was a Taser deployment, and a short time later there was one shot fired.”

From the current dash cam and helicopter footage, it is unclear what directions the officers were giving Crutcher. It’s also difficult to distinguish what prompted the officer to shoot him.

In the helicopter video, an officer can be heard referring to Crutcher as looking like a “bad dude.”

“The big ‘bad dude’ was my twin brother. That big ‘bad dude’ was a father,” Crutcher’s twin sister, Tiffany Crutcher, said on Monday, according to ABC News. “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,” she added.

According to ABC, police chief Chuck Jordan said Crutcher did not have any weapons on him or in his vehicle.

U.S. Attorney Danny Williams stated that the Justice Dept. will be conducting an independent investigation, the Post reported.

Crutcher’s death is the latest in a string of police shootings against black men. Just earlier this year, Alton Sterling and Philando Castile made headlines in Minnesota and Louisiana, respectively, when they were killed by police.

According to The Washington Post’s database which tracks police shootings, Crutcher is one of 162 black men to have been killed by officers this year.

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