Terence Crutcher, shown seated above with a young child, was shot to death by a Tulsa police officer Friday night. The victim’s family is calling for the police to immediately release its video of the incident. The police plan to hold a press conference Monday to discuss the shooting. Courtesy
Tiffany Crutcher was at her home in Montgomery, Ala., on Friday night when she was notified by Tulsa Police that her twin brother, Terence Crutcher, had been shot by officers.
Terence died, and Tiffany hopped on a plane late Friday and made it into Tulsa by Saturday morning.
“I just went numb,” Tiffany told reporters during a press conference here Saturday. “I didn’t know what to do, I didn’t know what was going on, I didn’t have any answers. Didn’t know what? Who? When?”
It’s unlikely many answers will be forthcoming until Monday afternoon at the earliest, when TPD is planning to hold a press conference to discuss the shooting.
Police have said officers responding to another call happened across Terence Crutcher’s stalled vehicle late Friday near Lewis Avenue and 36th Street North. Officers said on Friday that Crutcher approached them from the side of the street and declined to raise his hands, though they have not said why they gave him that command.
Crutcher, they said, approached his SUV and reached inside it against their orders. One officer shot the 40-year-old man while another reportedly deployed a Taser.
Police have not said whether Crutcher was armed, but Tiffany Crutcher said on Saturday that “one thing I do know is that my brother was unarmed.”
Terence Crutcher, right, poses for a picture with his twin sister, Tiffany. Terence Crutcher was shot and killed by a Tulsa police officer Friday night. The police plan to hold a press conference Monday to discuss the incident. Photo provided
She described her brother as “laid back” and “reserved,” and said Terence, who had four children and just started a music appreciation course at a local college, “had more friends than anybody I knew, was just a friendly person. He loved his children dearly.
“He truly loved God. All he talked about is ‘God is not through with me yet,’ and ‘God is gonna get the glory out of my life.’”
The family has retained local attorney Damario Solomon-Simmons, as well as Melvin C. Hall and national civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump. Crump represented Trayvon Martin and recently represented the family of Monroe Bird following a shooting here in 2015.
“I’ve known this family for a very, very long time,” Simmons said on Saturday. “It’s a great family in our community. … I’m honored to be retained, but I hate to be retained for this reason.”
Simmons called on Tulsa police to immediately release any video footage they have of the incident. The department does not have body cameras equipped on its officers, but did complete installation of hundreds of dash cams on their squad vehicles this year following a troubled process that took several years.
There might also be video from one of the department’s helicopters that may have recorded the incident.
“We’re … requesting the Tulsa Police Department immediately release the dash cam and any other video that they may have so we can review that, so we can have an understanding of what happened, and so his family can have an understanding of what happened, and why they have to bury their brother, their son,” Simmons said.
Simmons also asked anyone who may have witnessed the shooting to contact his office.
“We are asking anyone who witnessed and/or videotaped this shooting to call my office at 918-587-3161.”
