“He was a father, He was a son, He was enrolled at Tulsa Community College just wanting to make us all proud, He loved God, He was in church singing with all of his flaws every week.”
He was none other than 40-year-old Terence Crutcher—a man who was shot dead by police in Oklahoma as he raised his hands above for safety. These are the words of his twin sister Tiffany, who is now left to plan his funeral.
He was slumped beside his stalled SUV, his blood coming out onto the asphalt, it is impossible to forget those last tragic moments captured on police video—impossible to understand why an unarmed man, suspected of committing no crime and who threatened no one, was summarily shot on an open roadway by an officer sworn to serve and protect him.
It appears his only crime was being a large, black man who had the misfortune of having his car break down on a public street. He paid for that with his life.
Crutcher was coming out of a music appreciation class at a community college when his car broke down, his family said. The silver SUV was reportedly “straddling the centerline of the northeast Tulsa road with its engine idling and its doors open” near 36th Street and Lewis Avenue when the first officer arrived, drew her gun and began spitting out commands. She called for backup, claiming the stranded motorist was unresponsive.
In all, a total of four officers and a helicopter responded to reports of an abandoned vehicle blocking the road. One of them pointed a Taser at Crutcher, but it was Tulsa police officer Betty Shelby, the first to arrive on the scene, who fired the single shot. She pulled the trigger mere seconds after a second squad car arrived, killing the man who was innocent.
(Sourced from agencies, Feature image courtesy:heavy.com)
