First-Degree Manslaughter Charge for Tulsa Cop Who Killed Terence Crutcher

DOJ launches a civil rights investigation of last week’s shooting.

Tulsa County DA Steve Kunzweiler announced the charge on Thursday.Tom Gilbert/AP

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.


The Tulsa, Oklahoma, police officer who shot and killed an unarmed black man late last week will be charged with first-degree manslaughter, Tulsa County District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler said during a press conference Thursday. Video of the encounter showed Officer Betty Shelby shooting Terence Crutcher, 40, while he had at least one hand in the air. (You can read more about what happened here.) The Department of Justice has launched a civil rights investigation into the shooting.

In addition this week, the Tulsa police released some new details about Shelby. The 42-year-old officer has been with the Tulsa PD for five years. She previously served four years with the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office before leaving in 2011. Before that, she served a short stint in the Oklahoma National Guard. In her application to join the Tulsa Sheriff’s Office—made public this week—Shelby acknowledged that she and an ex-boyfriend had filed restraining orders against each other in 1993 after a breakup. The orders were later dismissed. In 2002, the wife of Shelby’s ex sought a protective order, alleging that Shelby had made harassing phone calls to her. A judge denied the order.

Last month, the Tulsa Police Department praised Shelby in a Facebook post after she helped a couple whose apartment was burglarized track down their stolen property.

 

Fact:

Mother Jones was founded as a nonprofit in 1976 because we knew corporations and billionaires wouldn't fund the type of hard-hitting journalism we set out to do.

Today, reader support makes up about two-thirds of our budget, allows us to dig deep on stories that matter, and lets us keep our reporting free for everyone. If you value what you get from Mother Jones, please join us with a tax-deductible donation today so we can keep on doing the type of journalism 2022 demands.

payment methods

Fact:

Today, reader support makes up about two-thirds of our budget, allows us to dig deep on stories that matter, and lets us keep our reporting free for everyone. If you value what you get from Mother Jones, please join us with a tax-deductible donation today so we can keep on doing the type of journalism 2022 demands.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate