THE ISSUE: Despite videos, questions remain about fatal Tulsa shooting

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THE ISSUE:

Despite videos, questions remain about fatal Tulsa shooting

Police in Tulsa, Oklahoma, released dash cam and aerial footage, 911 calls and police radio traffic with unusual swiftness following the Sept. 16 shooting death of an unarmed black man by a white officer.

But what actually transpired on the Tulsa street between Terence Crutcher and officer Betty Shelby remains murky.

Crutcher's fatal shooting can be seen on two different videos provided by authorities — one from a police helicopter and the other from officer Tyler Turnbough's dashboard camera. They both show the 40-year-old Crutcher walking with his hands in the air toward his SUV. A female officer is following him.

As Crutcher approaches the driver's side of the SUV, more officers walk up and Crutcher appears to lower his hands and place them on the vehicle. A man inside a police helicopter overhead says: "That looks like a bad dude, too. Probably on something."

The officers surround Crutcher and he suddenly drops to the ground.

Someone on the police radio says, "I think he may have just been tasered." Almost immediately, a woman's voice yells on the police radio: "Shots fired!"

Crutcher, his white shirt stained with blood, lies on the ground alone and unattended for nearly two minutes before an officer puts on medical gloves and begins to examine him.

Student Reactions

Ashley Williams, senior news journalism and telecommunications major

“It’s more so sad than shocking at this point because as a society we should know better and grow from things happening like this."


Dierious Guyse, freshman nursing major

“It’s very sad, but the reality is, if we don’t have [body] cameras, you’ll never know that happened," Guyse said. "That’s been happening for years, we just now see it.”


Sarah Dillman, sophomore nursing major

“I feel like it’s just getting blown out of proportion a lot," Dillman said. "It is happening more often and [police] are having to take precautions for it.”


Cameron Schmidt, sophomore criminal justice

"I look at it like, that might be my job one day and if my life is put on the line, you have to do what you have to do to save yourself,” Schmidt said.

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