Police Officer Who Fatally Shot 15-Year-Old Texas Boy Is Fired

[brooklynite]

Source: New York Times

BALCH SPRINGS, Tex. — A Texas police officer who fired a rifle into a car full of teenagers in a Dallas suburb on Saturday night, killing a black teenager, was fired on Tuesday, the police chief of the Balch Springs Police Department said.

Chief Jonathan Haber said at a news conference on Tuesday that the officer, Roy Oliver, had violated numerous department policies and terminated his employment after an internal investigation into the shooting. Prosecutors are investigating the shooting and could bring charges.

The boy, Jordan Edwards, 15, was shot in the head with a rifle when he was fleeing an end-of-the-school-year party in a car with his brother and three friends. Jordan’s 16-year-old brother was sitting just a few feet away in the driver’s seat when Jordan was shot in the head.

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/02/us/dallas-police-teen-shooting-jordan-edwards.html

[shenmue]

1. ...

[bronxiteforever]

2. Horrible.

[Ghost Dog]

3. Put that, presumably, man away for life,

and all his police-officer comrades who might (not all, of course) feel empowered to behave in this manner, on the (difficult, sure) job.

Police personnel should never be permitted to feel that they are above the law.

[truthisfreedom]

4. in general population.

[Marengo]

17. Why gen pop?

[christx30]

6. Absolutely.

And any cop that covers for this kind of behavior should be treated like any citizen who is an accomplice to the crime. Glad this guy is out of a job. Hopefully the prosecution will actually bring out a good, strong case against him, and not a pretend one just so they can keep up a good relationship with the police.

[renegade000]

5. The details are perplexing to me.

Like why did this officer feel the need to grab his rifle to investigate a frickin' house party? Service pistol not enough? Would have to imagine that one of the many "department policies" he violated...

[BumRushDaShow]

7. "'Coon huntin'"

[renegade000]

10. That would definitely be one of the worst case scenarios.

The rifle thing does strike me as being a clue of the officer not being in the right "head space" though.

I mean, you've probably played some pretty wild scenarios in your head if you think breaking out your AR-15 (or whatever this department issues) is necessary during a check up on a house party. It's likely not going to prime you for appropriately grounded reactions...

[ProfessorGAC]

13. Great Question

A rifle? He felt it necessary to have a long range weapon to investigate a party? Seems like more firepower than what would have been needed by a guy who is already carrying a handgun.

[Blue_Tires]

16. Cops have a lot of "toys" to play with

and use any excuse to pull them out...

[liberalhistorian]

8. Good riddance and good for the

chief for firing him and fairly quickly. It appears we now have yet another "crime" to add to the ever-growing list of "sins" that black and brown people cannot do, and that is pulling out of a driveway while black.

[tblue37]

11. His union will help him sue for reinstatement and back pay. That is how

it usually plays out when a PD tries to fire a cop for such a murder.

[kimbutgar]

9. But the officer is not going to be charged for murder?

[whistler162]

15. That is upto the DA and Grand Jury

not the Police department.

[tblue37]

12. The PD originally put out a false story, that the car was "aggressively" reversing

toward the cop, ignoring repeated verbal commands to stop.

The only reason that lie was retracted is that the body came on the killer and another cop showed clearly that it was not what happened.

BTW, the kid was apparently a good student as well as a promising athlete. The stories emphasize his athletic talent and commitment, but he also had a 3.5 GPA.

AND he his two teenaged brothers who were also in the car will never get over seeing their little brother shot in the head right next to them, for no reason at all (except for the "crime" of existing while black).

[dalton99a]

14. And they still haven't even identified the cop