Unarmed Black Man Killed by Tulsa Police Had PCP in His System: Autopsy

An unarmed black man who was fatally shot by police in Oklahoma last month while he had his hands in the air had a hallucinogenic drug in his system when he was killed, according to an autopsy released on Tuesday.

The shooting of Terence Crutcher, 40, was one in a string of police killings of unarmed black people over the past two years that have sparked protests and debate across the United States. Tulsa police officer Betty Shelby has pleaded not guilty to first-degree manslaughter in connection with the shooting and is out on bond.

The Oklahoma Medical Examiner’s Office report said Crutcher had 96 nanograms per milliliter of phencyclidine, or PCP, in his bloodstream at the time of his death on Sept. 16. The office said the figure reached the threshold for “acute phencyclidine intoxication.”

Tulsa police said previously that PCP was discovered in Crutcher’s stalled SUV after his death. {snip}

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According to an arrest affidavit, the officer overreacted when she came upon Crutcher, whose car had broken down. Shelby has said she fired her weapon because she feared for her life.

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