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Tulsa, Oklahoma, police officer charged in man's death
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This undated file photo provided by the Tulsa Oklahoma Police Department shows officer Betty Shelby. Police say Tulsa officer Shelby fired the fatal shot that killed 40 year-old Terence Crutcher Sept. 16. Prosecutors in Tulsa, Oklahoma, charged Shelby, a white police officer who fatally shot an unarmed black man on a city street with first-degree manslaughter Thursday.
TULSA, Okla. — Prosecutors charged a white Oklahoma police officer with first-degree manslaughter Thursday, less than a week after she fatally shot an unarmed black man on a city street and just days after police released graphic videos, saying in court documents that the officer "reacted unreasonably."Tulsa County District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler charged Tulsa officer Betty Shelby in the Sept. 16 shooting death of 40-year-old Terence Crutcher. Kunzweiler said arrangements were being made for Shelby's surrender.Shelby "reacted unreasonably by escalating the situation from a confrontation with Mr. Crutcher, who was not responding to verbal commands and was walking away from her with his hands held up, becoming emotionally involved to the point that she over reacted," according to an affidavit filed with the charge.The swift action in Tulsa stood in contrast to Charlotte, North Carolina, where police refused under mounting pressure Thursday to release video of the shooting of another black man this week and the National Guard was called in to try to a head off a third night of violence. Demonstrations in Tulsa since Crutcher's death have been consistently peaceful.Dashcam and aerial footage of the shooting and its aftermath showed Crutcher walking away from Shelby with his arms in the air.
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