Disclaimer: Despite the title of this post, and the analysis to follow, I am not calling a particular shooting “bad.” That would be an insult to an investigative process that is just starting, and presumptuous given that I am not part of said process. Rather, my intent is to use one example–with some thoughts on how it might have happened–to explain how I think we should think about shootings that aren’t as clear-cut as we would like.
On September 16, Terrence Crutcher’s car broke down the middle of the road in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Police came to check on him. Crutcher approached police, initially refusing commands to show his hands. Eventually he walked back to his vehicle with his hands high in the air. While he was at the door to his own vehicle, one police officer deployed a TASER and a second police officer shot him with her handgun. According to police this was because Crutcher lunged towards his vehicle, as if to grab a weapon. Crutcher was found to be unarmed, with no weapon in the vehicle. He was later pronounced dead at a hospital. And Terrence Crutcher was black.