A white Tulsa, Okla., police officer who fatally shot an unarmed black man whose vehicle had broken down and blocked a street last week, turned herself in to authorities on a manslaughter charge early on Friday, reports Reuters. Betty Shelby, 42, was booked into the Tulsa County Jail just after 1 a.m. local time after being charged on Thursday with first-degree manslaughter in the death of Terence Crutcher, 40. Shelby was released on $50,000 bond and is scheduled for an initial court appearance on Sept. 30. Court papers filed by the Tulsa County attorney’s office accuse Shelby of overreacting and escalating the situation that led to the shooting of Crutcher last Friday. If convicted, she faces at least four years in prison, lawyers said.
The incident, which was captured on police videos, has intensified scrutiny over the use of excessive force and claims of racial bias by U.S. law enforcement officials against minorities. In two videos provided by Tulsa police, Crutcher can be seen with his hands in the air shortly before he was shot. Tulsa police said Crutcher was unarmed and there was no weapon in the vehicle. They released the videos, one of which was taken from a police helicopter and the other from a dashboard camera in a patrol car, in a bid for transparency.