Autopsy: Unarmed man shot by Tulsa police was high on PCP

“It’s on the high side, relative to causing some sort of impairment or intoxication,” Lee said.

Videos from a police helicopter and a dashboard camera showed Crutcher walking away from Shelby on a North Tulsa street with his arms in the air, but the footage does not offer a clear view of when Shelby fired the single shot.

Tulsa police had said previously that they had found a vial of PCP in Crutcher’s SUV — and the police officer’s lawyer said she had completed drug-recognition training and believed Crutcher might have been under the influence of drugs.

Lawyers for Crutcher’s family released a statement saying the toxicology report “does not change the most pertinent facts of this tragedy” and that Shelby “should be held accountable for her unlawful actions.”

According to an eight-page report from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Oklahoma City, Crutcher suffered a “penetrating gunshot wound of chest” and noted both of Crutcher’s lungs were pierced and that he had four broken ribs. In addition to saying Crutcher had PCP in his system, it said he was obese and had too much cholesterol in his gallbladder. The examiner recovered a bullet fragment from Crutcher’s left chest.

Shannon McMurray, one of Shelby’s defence attorneys, said the report helped provide an early “snapshot” of evidence in the case and that as more is released, “it will be clear in my mind as the case unfolds that the officer was justified in her use of force.” Another Shelby lawyer, Scott Wood, had said previously that the officer was so focused on Crutcher that she didn’t hear other officers near her before she fired her service weapon. Almost simultaneously, another officer fired a Taser at Crutcher as he moved toward his SUV.

In a text message to The Associated Press on Tuesday, Tulsa County District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler said he expected the tests would show Crutcher had drugs in his system, including the possibility of PCP.

Shelby, 42, has pleaded not guilty. She faces between four years to life in prison if convicted.

Tulsa has a history of troubled race relations. Four months before Crutcher’s death, a white former Tulsa County reserve deputy, Robert Bates, was sentenced to a four-year prison term on a second-degree manslaughter conviction. He said he confused his stun gun with his handgun when he fatally shot an unarmed black man in April 2015. That shooting led to the temporary suspension of the reserve deputy program after a report found poor training of the volunteer officers, a lack of oversight and widespread cronyism.

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Associated Press reporter Sean Murphy contributed reporting from Oklahoma City.

Justin Juozapavicius, The Associated Press

by Canadian Press

Autopsy: Unarmed man shot by Tulsa police was high on PCP

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