Officer acquitted in Tulsa shooting resigns
OKLAHOMA CITY — A white Oklahoma police officer recently acquitted of fatally shooting an unarmed black man submitted her resignation from the Tulsa police department Friday, saying the desk job where she had been assigned made her feel isolated from fellow officers.
Officer Betty Shelby’s resignation is effective Aug. 3, according to a news release from the Tulsa branch of a national police union. She also said she was praying for healing for the family of Terence Crutcher, who died after she opened fire in September.
“As I have stated before, the incident with Terence Crutcher was a tragedy for everyone involved, and I am sorry he lost his life,” Shelby said. “I will continue to pray for the unity of our community, the safety of our citizens and our police officers.”
Tulsa police spokesman Sgt. Shane
Tuell said it’s not clear whether the police chief has received Shelby’s letter, adding that he couldn’t comment until that document is in hand.
Shelby was acquitted in May of manslaughter in Crutcher’s slaying. Police Chief Chuck Jordan put her in an administrative role May 19, two days after her acquittal. She was not allowed on street patrol while an internal department investigation continued.
Tuell said internal investigations end when officers are no longer employed by the department.
Race relations in Tulsa have been strained for more than 100 years. The city has yet to fully heal from a 1921 race riot that killed 300 black residents and burned down burned a thriving business district.
Just last week, a jury deadlocked for the third time in less than a year and forced a mistrial in the murder case of a white former Tulsa officer accused of killing his daughter’s black boyfriend. Shannon Kepler was charged with fatally shooting 19-year-old Jeremey Lake in August 2014, not long after Lake started dating Kepler’s then-18-year-old daughter.
In April 2015, ex-volunteer sheriff ’s deputy Robert Bates, who is white, fatally shot an unarmed black man, Eric Harris, in a city street. Bates was convicted of second-degree manslaughter and sentenced to four years in prison last year.