Shelby had been on her way
to a domestic violence call when she saw Mr Crutcher's SUV abandoned in the
middle of a city street.
The female police officer
who fatally shot an unarmed black man has been charged with first-degree
manslaughter, prosecutors say.
Betty Shelby, who has been
in the force for almost five years, shot and killed 40-year-old Terence
Crutcher on 16 September.
Dashcam and aerial footage
showed the father-of-four walking away from Shelby with his arms in the air but
did not show a clear view of when she fired the shot that killed him.
Shelby did not start her
car's dashboard camera so there is no footage of what happened between her and
Mr Crutcher before other officers arrived on the scene.
Her lawyer has said Mr
Crutcher was not following police commands and that she opened fire when he
began to reach into his vehicle window.
In an affidavit filed on
Thursday, Shelby told investigators that "she was in fear for her life and
thought Mr Crutcher was going to kill her".
The charge is that she
"reacted unreasonably by escalating the situation from a confrontation
with Mr Crutcher, who was not responding to verbal commands and was walking
away from her with his hands held up, becoming emotionally involved to the
point that she over-reacted," the affidavit said.
If convicted she could face
a minimum of four years in prison.
Mr Crutcher's family said
he posed no threat. Police said after the incident that Mr Crutcher did not
have a gun in his vehicle.
Tulsa County District
Attorney Steve Kunzweiler said: "The tragic circumstances surrounding the
death of Mr Crutcher are on the hearts and minds of many people in this
community
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