A white Texas police officer, who authorities said fired a rifle into a carload of unarmed black teens, killing a 15-year-old in front of his two brothers, has been fired.
Balch Springs police Officer Roy Oliver was fired Tuesday for violating department policy in the Saturday night shooting that left Jordan Edwards dead, the Dallas Morning News reported.
“From our policies, which I went by, there were violations,” Balch Springs police Chief Jonathan Haber said. “I acted on them.”
Haber did not detail how the officer's actions violated policy. Oliver, who was an officer in Balch Springs since 2011, has the right to appeal his termination, the department said in a news release.
Edwards, his brothers and two friends were leaving a house party in the Dallas suburb as Oliver and a second officer arrived to investigate possible underage drinking at the party, which was reported by a neighbor, the News reported. Lee Merritt, an attorney representing Edwards' family, said that after hearing gunshots, Edwards' 16-year-old brother was backing out of a parking spot, when he heard someone screaming profanities at him.
Before he could respond, the officer, identified as Oliver, fired three shots into the car, striking Edwards’ in the head. His brother drove away, but stopped and flagged down officers about a block away after he and the other boys realized Edwards had been shot.
The Edwards family told what happened next in a written statement released by Merritt Tuesday, before Oliver was fired.
"After Jordan's two brothers, Vidal and Kevon, along with their two friends, were forced to experience this tragedy up close as occupants of the car, they were immediately treated as common criminals by other officers; manhandled, intimidated and arrested, while their brother lay dying in the front seat," the family said.
The family later said that while they are grateful that Oliver has been fired, “there remains a long road ahead.” They want Oliver charged with murder and the other officers involved punished for their callous treatment of the surviving children.
"The officers who extended this nightmare for those children ought to be properly reprimanded, as well," the family said. "Our family is working hard to deal with both the loss of our beloved Jordan and the lingering trauma it has caused our boys."
Merritt said that Edwards' older brother, who was driving the car, was arrested and held overnight by police, the News reported. Though officials said that he was held as a witness for questioning, none of the other boys were kept overnight.
Police also detained the boys’ father, Odell Edwards, when he went to the police station asking about his boys, the lawyer said.
"Balch Springs PD called the Dallas County Sheriff's Office and asked if they could restrain Jordan's father because of his hostile behavior," Merritt said, according to the newspaper.
The Edwards family asked in its statement that the public refrain from protesting in their son’s name as they prepare for his funeral. His funeral is scheduled for Saturday, a week after his death.
They also asked that no one target the police. Haber previously said the department was getting threats on social media in response to the shooting.
"We do not support nor do we condone any violence or threats made against the Balch Police Department or any other law enforcement agencies," the family said.
Haber initially said after the shooting that Oliver fired on the car when the driver backed toward officers “in an aggressive manner.” He changed that account Monday after reviewing body camera footage from the scene that night.
He acknowledged then that the car was moving away from officers when Oliver fired the shots and said the officer’s actions were not consistent with the department’s “core values.”
On Tuesday, the chief accepted responsibility for the wrong information, which he said he released after relying on Oliver's account of what happened, the News said.
“(That’s) my inability to get all the facts like I should have,” Haber said. “That was solely on me. In a rush to get the information out, to be transparent … I missed a step.”
Haber said the department would continue to be transparent as the investigation into Oliver’s actions progresses. The department has concluded its internal investigation, but an independent probe by the Dallas County Sheriff’s Department and the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office continues.
Edwards, a freshman at Mesquite High School, was an honor student and football player who Merritt said was popular and much loved by his family and friends. His family on Tuesday described him as a loving child with a “humble and sharing” spirit.
"The bond that he shared with his family, particularly his siblings, was indescribable," the Edwards family said in their statement. "Not only have Jordan's brothers lost their best friend, they witnessed firsthand his violent, senseless murder. Their young lives will be forever altered."
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