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Police chief fires officer who fatally shot unarmed Texas college football player | Police chief fires officer who fatally shot unarmed Texas college football player |
(35 minutes later) | |
A Texas police department has fired an officer who shot dead a young football player last week and said they will turn over all evidence in the case to a grand jury for possible criminal charges. | A Texas police department has fired an officer who shot dead a young football player last week and said they will turn over all evidence in the case to a grand jury for possible criminal charges. |
Related: Christian Taylor's father says police 'won't even talk to me' after son's death | Related: Christian Taylor's father says police 'won't even talk to me' after son's death |
Arlington police chief Will Johnson said at a press conference on Tuesday that officer-in-training Brad Miller, 49, had acted irresponsibly and broken protocol at several key moments during an encounter early on Friday morning with 19-year-old Christian Taylor. | |
He said that when officers arrived and met Taylor, just after 1am, he was inside the glass storefront of a car dealership, and they stood just outside it. Taylor was screaming and had a “bulge in his pocket”, the officers said. | |
Officers Dale Wiggins and his trainee, Miller, were sent to secure the western perimeter of the auto showroom. Instead, Miller moved ahead, and when he rounded a corner and saw Taylor’s car, which he had crashed into the dealership’s plate glass, he entered through the glass. | Officers Dale Wiggins and his trainee, Miller, were sent to secure the western perimeter of the auto showroom. Instead, Miller moved ahead, and when he rounded a corner and saw Taylor’s car, which he had crashed into the dealership’s plate glass, he entered through the glass. |
Miller should have waited for his partner, Johnson said. He said Miller’s decision to enter alone was “troubling” in several ways: the officers did not know whether Taylor was alone in the dealership, or whether he was armed. Miller and Wiggins should have simply maintained a perimeter and waited. | |
Related: The Counted: people killed by police in the United States in 2015 – interactive | Related: The Counted: people killed by police in the United States in 2015 – interactive |
When Miller entered the dealership, he saw Taylor and pursued him into a back corner of the building. Taylor flung himself against a glass door, with such force that officers on the outside could see the building’s glass exterior shaking. | When Miller entered the dealership, he saw Taylor and pursued him into a back corner of the building. Taylor flung himself against a glass door, with such force that officers on the outside could see the building’s glass exterior shaking. |
Meanwhile Wiggins felt he had no choice but to follow his trainee into the building. He told internal affairs investigators he felt “a sense of urgency to rejoin” Miller. | |
As Wiggins approached the back corner where Miller stood, Taylor turned away from the locked door and approached the officers rapidly, Johnson said. Wiggins unholstered his Taser and heard a pop, which he thought was Miller firing his own Taser. Instead, it was Miller firing his gun. | |
Wiggins then fired his own Taser, while Miller fired three more bullets. | |
Johnson said the incident was “a tragic case. Our community is hurting, a family is hurting, our department is hurting, and indeed our nation is hurting.” | Johnson said the incident was “a tragic case. Our community is hurting, a family is hurting, our department is hurting, and indeed our nation is hurting.” |
Local protesters planned to demonstrate against the shooting on Tuesday night. | Local protesters planned to demonstrate against the shooting on Tuesday night. |
Taylor’s father, Adrian, said he felt encouraged by the department’s decision to fire Miller, but was unsatisfied. | |
“My son is never coming home again,” he said. “So right now I’m not sure there’s anything that could satisfy me.” | |
Johnson said his department was sharing information with the FBI, although the FBI was not directly involved in the investigation. He said a criminal investigation into Miller’s actions would proceed but could take some weeks. |