TULSA, Okla. (AP) — The sister of a black man shot and killed by a Tulsa police officer when he reached into an SUV stalled in the street said on Saturday that she does not believe her brother was armed.
TULSA, Okla. (AP) — The sister of a black man shot and killed by a Tulsa police officer when he reached into an SUV stalled in the street said on Saturday that she does not believe her brother was armed.
Terrence Crutcher, 40, died at the hospital where he was taken after he was shot by the officer at around 8 p.m. Friday, police said.
“One fact I do know is that my brother was unarmed,” Terrence Crutcher’s twin sister Tiffany Crutcher told a news conference Saturday. “I’m just devastated.”
Police spokeswoman Jeanne MacKenzie declined to say Saturday whether a weapon was found and said the items that were recovered will not be revealed until a news conference Monday by Police Chief Chuck Jordan.
An attorney for the Crutcher family, Damario Solomon-Simmons, called on Saturday for police to release any video of the shooting. MacKenzie said she believes the officers’ dash cameras might have captured video of the shooting. Tulsa police officers don’t have body cameras.
Solomon-Simmons told reporters that Crutcher was in the area because his car stalled and officers saw him while on an unrelated call and approached.
MacKenzie said an officer responding to another call saw the vehicle in the middle of the road and called for backup, and the two officers were walking toward the SUV when Crutcher approached them from the side of the road.
“He refused to follow commands given by the officers,” MacKenzie said.
“They continued to talk to him, he continued not to listen and follow any commands.”
Tulsa police did not release the names and races of the officers’ involved. The officer who shot Crutcher was placed on paid leave, which is routine in cases of police-involved shootings.