The Tulsa police officer who shot and killed unarmed motorist Terence Crutcher turned herself in on Friday.
Officer Betty Shelby was booked on 1st-degree manslaughter charges and quickly released on $50,000 bond.
Investigators say Shelby “reacted unreasonably by escalating the situation.” They also said she became “emotionally involved to the point that she overreacted.”
The NY Daily News reports Shelby entered the Tulsa County Jail shortly after 1 a.m. Friday. She walked out less than 15 minutes later. She was inside the jail long enough to take a smiling mugshot photo.
Shelby gunned down Crutcher, 40, on Sept. 16, after she responded to a report of a car abandoned in the middle of the roadway.
She called for backup after Crutcher did not communicate with her and she observed him behaving erratically.
About 4 or 5 officers arrived on the scene minutes later.
Shelby’s husband — who is also a Tulsa cop — was on a police helicopter hovering over the scene. He reportedly described Crutcher as “a bad dude”.
Shelby said she shot Crutcher because she feared for her life when he reached for a weapon inside his SUV.
Another officer — who claimed to perceive the same threat — deployed his taser while Shelby fired her service weapon almost simultaneously.
An autopsy report shows Crutcher died from a single gunshot wound to the chest. His death was ruled a homicide.
Investigators did not find a weapon inside the SUV, but they did find a vial of PCP — a mood altering drug.
Shelby’s attorney said Crutcher was high on drugs when she shot him. The coroner is awaiting toxicology results.
Shelby has been placed on paid administrative leave while her case is pending.
She faces 4 years in prison if convicted.
