The officer involved in the shooting death of Terence Crutcher in Tulsa, Oklahoma has been charged with 1st degree manslaughter.
Local district attorney Stephen Kunzweiler announced the charges against officer Betty Shelby on Thursday afternoon.
"A warrant has been issued for her arrest," Kunzweiler said, adding that "arrangements are being made for her surrender to the Tulsa County Sheriffs Department."The charges were filed despite the fact that Tulsa police has not yet released its report on the incident.
Terence Crutcher, 40, was shot last Friday, after police stopped to investigate his vehicle that had stalled in the road. The incident was caught on dashcams as well as a police helicopter, and appears to show Shelby opening fire as another officer prepared to use a taser.
The footage was released to Crutcher's family and community leaders over the weekend. "His hands were in the air from all views," Rodney Goss, a pastor at the Morning Star Baptist Church, told the Tulsa World. "It was not apparent at any angle from any point that he lunged, came toward, aggressively attacked, or made any sudden movements that would have been considered a threat or life-threanening toward the officer."
A separate police shooting in Charlotte, North Carolina has led to two nights of violent protests, as authorities brace themselves for a potential third.
