USA officer cleared in fatal shooting of unarmed black man

He was shot while his hands were up.

Betty Jo Shelby, the Tulsa police officer who shot and killed Terence Crutcher previous year was acquitted by a jury Wednesday.

Relatives of motorist Terence Crutcher burst into tears after jurors in Tulsa, Oklahoma found Betty Jo Shelby not guilty over the shooting, which helped to galvanise the Black Lives Matter movement.

Shelby faced first-degree manslaughter charges in the death of Crutcher, a black man who was unarmed at the time he was shot.

The Rev. Joey Crutcher, father of Terence Crutcher, talks with the media following the verdict in the trial of Betty Shelby in Tulsa, Okla., Wednesday, May 17, 2017.

Officer Shelby said he ignored her commands to stop, walking away from her and toward his vehicle, his arms raised. Shelby was charged with manslaughter in the shooting of Terence Crutcher, an unarmed black man. Shelby was found innocent Wednesday. Police asked protesters not to block streets when some stepped into an intersection. A witness called 911 and said a man was running away from it, and warned that it could blow up. Toxicology tests showed he had PCP in his system. "I have sorrow that this happened, that this man lost his life, but he caused the situation to occur", Shelby said.

"Officer Shelby continually altered her account of the incident, apparently changing the details based on the influence of counsel and discoveries by her fellow officers instead of her own recollection".

After the verdict, Shelby left without making a statement as Crutcher's family tearfully left the courtroom.

Police video showed him with his hands up before he was shot.

Shelby testified for more than two hours on Monday about her training as a Tulsa police officer and how she believed Crutcher was reaching for a gun inside his SUV when she fired, according to ABC's Tulsa affiliate KTUL. The SUV belonged to Crutcher. The video was shot from a police helicopter. Tulsa Police Department and her victim Terence Crutcher, 40.

Crutcher was found to be unarmed after the shooting. Crutcher then chose to reach back into his vehicle for something.

The Tulsa Police Department claimed that Crutcher failed to comply with orders from Shelby and the other officers who were on the scene.

We will bring you additional details as they are released. They treated him like a suspect. Tomorrow, I'm going to get up and continue to prosecute cases just like I did the day before.

Crutcher's twin sister, Tiffany, described Mr. Crutcher as a brother and father who was enrolled in Tulsa Community College. Radio chatter that captured moments before the shooting included an officer saying Crutcher looked "like a bad dude" who "could be on something".