Okla. Medical Examiner Releases Terence Crutcher Autopsy Report

Terence Crutcher, the unarmed black man who was fatally shot by a white female police officer in Tulsa, Okla., had PCP in his system when he died from the fatal gunshot wound, according to a medical examinerโ€™s report released Tuesday, the Washington Post reports. The report, from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in…

Terence Crutcher, the unarmed black man who was fatally shot by a white female police officer in Tulsa, Okla., had PCP in his system when he died from the fatal gunshot wound, according to a medical examinerโ€™s report released Tuesday, the Washington Post reports. The report, from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Oklahoma, says that Crutcher, 40, had โ€œacute phencyclidine intoxicationโ€ when he was shot by officer Betty Shelby on Sept. 16.

Video will return here when scrolled back into view
AI Is the New Civil Rights Frontier: Loren Douglass on Wealth, Politics & Power
AI Is the New Civil Rights Frontier: Loren Douglass on Wealth, Politics & Power

โ€œThe cause of death is penetrating gunshot wound of chest with musculoskeletal and visceral injuries,โ€ states the report. โ€œThe manner of death is classified as homicide.โ€

The report notes that some of Crutcherโ€™s ribs were fractured and a bullet fragment was recovered.

Shelby, who has been charged with first-degree manslaughter in Crutcherโ€™s death, has previously said that she thought he was acting like someone who might have been under the influence of PCP. Police reportedly found a vial of the drug in Crutcherโ€™s car.

Scott Wood, an attorney for Shelby, said in an email that the autopsy report confirms what Officer Shelby surmised the night of the shooting from Crutcherโ€™s appearance and noncompliance.

โ€œDoes the fact he was under the influence of pcp in and of itself justify the shooting? Of course not,โ€ Wood wrote in an email. โ€œIt does however, help to explain his behavior, and that she was correct to consider him unpredictable, and therefore a significant threat to her safety. One of the recognized risks of pcp is that it can lead to self destructive behavior. ย It is another piece of the fact pattern which led to Mr. Crutcherโ€™s death.โ€

Crutcherโ€™s death was captured on video that shows him walking to his car with his hands raised. He was not holding a gun, and no gun was found in his vehicle or on his person.

If convicted, Shelby faces a minimum four-year prison term. Her attorneys entered a plea of not guilty on her behalf during a September court date.

Read more at the Washington Post.

Straight From The Root

Sign up for our free daily newsletter.