Betty Shelby

TULSA, Okla. — The Tulsa police officer accused of manslaughter in the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man took a roundabout path toward her dream job of joining law enforcement, with stops as a convenience store clerk, an Air National Guard member and a teaching assistant.

Family members and colleagues say Betty Jo Shelby, 42, was an engaged community member, a churchgoer and cool-headed enough to be tapped as a field-training officer even though she didn’t join the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office until 2007 and the city’s force until 2011.

Despite completing de-escalation training, Shelby “reacted unreasonably” when she fatally shot 40-year-old Terence Crutcher on Sept. 16, according to an affidavit prosecutors filed with the first-degree manslaughter charge. Shelby, who posted bond early Friday, faces four years to life in prison if convicted.

Shelby’s attorney, Scott Wood, said Friday that she had a reputation of having a “cool head on her shoulders.”

“This wasn’t her first week on the job,” Wood said. “Betty is a field-training officer. The department has picked her to train new officers, and people will tell you this isn’t Betty Shelby to overreact to a situation.”

Shelby joined the Tulsa Police Department in December 2011; her husband David works there, too. She was placed on leave without pay Friday.

The department refused repeated requests to release her personnel records, but said the officer has not been subject to any disciplinary proceedings in her nearly five years.

She has garnered accolades due to her work in the community, said Sgt. Patrick Stephens, a spokesman with the Tulsa Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 93.