Editor’s note: The Frontier is looking back at some of its most memorable stories of the past decade as it counts down to its 10th anniversary celebration 6 p.m. April 29 at the Tulsa Central Library.
Police Officer Betty Shelby killed Terence Crutcher on a deserted north Tulsa road in 2016, putting the city in the center of a national firestorm for the shooting of an unarmed Black man.
The Frontier covered the case from the beginning, culminating in Shelby’s 2017 trial for first-degree manslaughter.
Shelby, on her way to respond to a 911 call, came across Crutcher and his stalled SUV. Video of the incident, captured by various body-worn cameras, as well as a helicopter piloted by Shelby’s husband, showed a seemingly dazed Crutcher walk to his vehicle. He appeared to reach inside the driver’s side window when Shelby opened fire. Crutcher fell to the street, blood pouring down his white t-shirt.
Shelby, who was white, said she believed Crutcher, who an autopsy report later showed had PCP in his system, was reaching inside his vehicle for a weapon. Police later said no weapon was found inside the vehicle. The killing opened wounds,from Tulsa’s racist past. The national media descended on Tulsa, putting pressure not just on the community as a whole but on the county’s legal system as it tried to cope with yet another high-profile police killing. The city was still recovering from the 2015 shooting of Eric Harris, another unarmed black man, by Tusa County Sheriff reserve deputy.
Tulsa County District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler announced he was charging Shelby with first-degree manslaughter during an impromptu press conference less than a week after Crutcher’s death.
The Frontier provided daily coverage of the trial, which culminated with Shelby taking the witness stand.
Crutcher didn’t obey commands, she testified.
“Why did you fire,” defense attorney Shannon McMurray asked.
“Because I was in fear for my life and that he was reaching for a gun to kill me,” Shelby said.
The jury acquitted Shelby after deliberating for nine hours, an outcome that led to standoffs between authorities and protestors outside of the Tulsa County Courthouse. A juror, who interviewed with The Frontier the day after the trial, said that while the jury agreed Shelby was innocent of manslaughter, they also agreed she should “never be a patrol officer again.
Shelby and her husband both remained in law enforcement following the trial. Neither could be reached for comment.
Shelby briefly returned to the Tulsa Police Department, but left, saying she felt “ostracized” from her fellow officers. She later joined the Rogers County Sheriff’s Office after Sheriff Scott Walton publicly offered her a job.
Shelby also began teaching classes to other cops on the “Ferguson effect,” and how to survive public scrutiny following a police shooting. Shelby’s husband, Dave Shelby, retired from TPD and later joined the Creek County Sheriff’s Office.
Last year, a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit by Crutcher’s family against Shelby and the City of Tulsa.
The Crutcher family has left a mark on Tulsa since the shooting. Crutcher’s twin sister, Dr. Tiffany Crutcher, left a career in medicine in Alabama, returning to Tulsa in the aftermath of her brother’s killing. She advocated for her family before and during Shelby’s trial, and today is the executive director of the Terence Crutcher Foundation. The foundation started as “a volunteer army,” according to Deputy Director Sheyda Brown, but has since grown, both in size in influence.
Brown said the foundation advocates for policies and reforms around police violence and also supports youth programs. Most recently, the foundation purchased a 65,000-square-foot building in north Tulsa to serve as a co-working space and community hub.
“Dr. Crutcher always says to turn pain into purpose,” Brown told The Frontier. “And that’s what she’s done with the foundation.”
