Police chief fires Texas officer who killed unarmed teen

[webfact]

Police chief fires Texas officer who killed unarmed teen
By EMILY SCHMALL

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — A police officer who killed an unarmed college football player during a suspected burglary at a Texas car dealership was fired Tuesday for making mistakes that the city's police chief said caused a deadly confrontation that put him and other officers in danger.

Arlington officer Brad Miller, 49, could also face criminal charges once police complete their investigation, Police Chief Will Johnson said.

Called to the scene of a suspected burglary early Friday morning, Miller pursued 19-year-old Christian Taylor through the broken glass doors of a car dealership showroom without telling his supervising officer, Johnson said.

Instead of helping to set up a perimeter around the showroom, Miller confronted Taylor and ordered him to get down on the ground, Johnson said. Taylor did not comply. Instead, he began "actively advancing toward Officer Miller," Johnson said.

Miller's field training officer, who had followed Miller into the showroom, drew his own Taser. The training officer heard a single pop of what he thought was Miller's Taser, but Miller actually had drawn his service weapon and fired it at Taylor, who is believed to have been 7 to 10 feet away from the officer, Johnson said. After Taylor continued to approach, Miller fired his gun three more times.

"This is an extraordinarily difficult case," Johnson said. "Decisions were made that created an environment of cascading consequences and an unrecoverable outcome."

The Arlington Municipal Patrolman's Association issued a statement Tuesday night decrying Johnson's decision. The group said it supports "Miller's right to be judged fairly and completely on facts instead of a snapshot developed in only days," and also expressed sympathy for Taylor's family.

"We again ask that citizens obey the commands of police officers in order to prevent these tragedies from occurring in the future," the association said.

An attorney for Miller did not have an immediate comment on Johnson's announcement. Taylor's family did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Taylor's death came two days before the anniversary of the death of Michael Brown, an unarmed, black 18-year-old who was fatally shot by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri.

Taylor, who was black, was a graduate of an Arlington high school and a football player at Angelo State University in West Texas. Miller is white.

At a protest Tuesday night outside the Arlington police headquarters, about 60 demonstrators demanded that Miller be charged with a crime.

The firing was "not enough justice," said Matthew Higgins, 20, one of Taylor's former high school classmates. "If it was a white person, it probably would have been different.

There is no video of the shooting itself, though security camera footage from Classic Buick GMC dealership's parking lots shows Taylor walking around and damaging some vehicles.

Police on Tuesday released audio of a 911 call made by the company manning the exterior cameras. In the audio, the caller tells a 911 operator that a "thin black man with a blond Mohawk" was seen jumping on the windshield of a gray Ford Mustang.

Before his final confrontation with Miller, Taylor allegedly held up a set of car keys and told another officer that he intended to steal a car, Johnson said. He had driven a vehicle through the glass front doors of the showroom and, after officers arrived, was slamming his body into the side of a different part of the building to try to escape, the chief said.

"It is clear from the facts obtained that Mr. Taylor was non-compliant with police demands," Johnson said.

But the chief said he ultimately decided Miller's mistakes required his firing. While he said he had "serious concerns" about Miller's use of deadly force, Johnson said it would be up to a grand jury to decide whether Miller's actions were criminal.

Miller joined the police department in September and graduated from the city police academy earlier this year. Police said Miller cannot appeal his firing because he was a probationary employee.

He was undergoing field training and assigned to a more senior officer, though he was a licensed police officer authorized to carry a weapon. Police have previously said that he had never fired his weapon in the line of duty before.

But Johnson stressed that officers in training "have the skills, the decision-making process, the authority" to act correctly in the field.

"Although the investigation is not over, my hope is that the information shared today can assist in the healing process," Johnson said. "Some communities and our nation have been torn apart by similar challenges."
___

Associated Press writer Nomaan Merchant in Dallas contributed to this report.


-- (c) Associated Press 2015-08-12

[oneday]

Why are so many of these cops so willing to kill lately?

Why didn't the training officer have more control? Why wasn't Miller using a Taser?

Something drastic needs to be done.

[Basil B]

Another "White Policeman Shoot Unarmed Black Teenager"...

[stevenl]

Why are so many of these cops so willing to kill lately?

Why didn't the training officer have more control? Why wasn't Miller using a Taser?

Something drastic needs to be done.

A courtcase should answer all these questions, so IMO good there will be one.

[Linky]

Why are so many of these cops so willing to kill lately?

Why didn't the training officer have more control? Why wasn't Miller using a Taser?

Something drastic needs to be done.

Because when you live in a no gun control society it makes the police on edge thinking everyone they come into contact with can easily shoot you. So mistakes out of fear are commonly made.

In countries where guns are not so common the police are not so ready to go for the holster.

Things will only keep getting worse until the US either moves into this century on gun control or falls further into chaos.

[BuaBS]

Man , I am anti police , but if Taylor was damaging cars and stealing , quick justice is done.

Now if it was at a secondhand car dealer , shooting him was overkill ( thief stealing from other thiefs) . Decisions , decisions,...doesn't make the cops task easier.

[mango66]

seems to getting a hobby for White american police officers to kill Black teens ;

If you have not 1 this teens on your counting,

your carier would not go up fast !!

This is USA today !!

in centuries back,

they were the prisoners released in EU and send to this new continent to kil the origin Indians,

now when they have finished this task,

they looking for new targets,

and they found them in black skinned teens,

Who will be the next for them ?

[Linky]

In Australia

Aboriginal man drowns in well.

In US

Black man shot for stealing water.

[Blitzkrieg Bob]

US police are f...ing prsychos!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfyaKG_tE5M

[redbarron]

"We again ask that citizens obey the commands of police officers in order to prevent these tragedies from occurring in the future," the association said.

Only if it is a lawful order!

[redbarron]

seems to getting a hobby for White american police officers to kill Black teens ;

If you have not 1 this teens on your counting,

your carier would not go up fast !!

This is USA today !!

in centuries back,

they were the prisoners released in EU and send to this new continent to kil the origin Indians,

now when they have finished this task,

they looking for new targets,

and they found them in black skinned teens,

Who will be the next for them ?

sent to kill the native American Indians? What planet do you live on?

[BuaBS]

The Brits kidnapped the black africans and took them to North america to work as slaves ( the south europeans did the same but took them to mid and south america ) . Now the Blacks are not really wanted and get "special" police treatment.

Europeans killed off the native americans , and some of the wild life ( buffalo's/bisons ).

If only the euro's weren't so profit driven , the Blacks would not be in america , police brutality & murder would just be white on white.

[mrwebb8825]

"We again ask that citizens obey the commands of police officers in order to prevent these tragedies from occurring in the future," the association said.

Only if it is a lawful order!

I DO believe that when a person is caught in the act of committing a crime, "Get down on the ground" IS in fact, a lawful order.

Mango66 ~ have you ever actually read any history?? The only time 'criminals' were 'released' from Europe and sent to another country was the UK shipping it's prisoners to Australia so they wouldn't have to support them or risk escape and need to fight them again.

The original settlers in America came from several different areas of Europe to find a better life and get away from the tyranny of their home countries.

[Neurath]

"We again ask that citizens obey the commands of police officers in order to prevent these tragedies from occurring in the future," the association said.

Only if it is a lawful order!

I DO believe that when a person is caught in the act of committing a crime, "Get down on the ground" IS in fact, a lawful order.

Mango66 ~ have you ever actually read any history?? The only time 'criminals' were 'released' from Europe and sent to another country was the UK shipping it's prisoners to Australia so they wouldn't have to support them or risk escape and need to fight them again.

The original settlers in America came from several different areas of Europe to find a better life and get away from the tyranny of their home countries.

The Brits shipped LOTS of Convicts to the American colonies. They were "Transported" exactly the same as they were transported later to Australia. Transportation to Australia was offered up as a solution to the problems of "transportation" to the American colonies. Lots of Convicts went to Virginia. Plenty of convict labor in the American Colonies. They weren't considered very useful partly due to the fact that you could own 'real' slaves.

[uksomchai]

Another "White Policeman Shoot Unarmed Black Teenager"...

And what about all the many white officers and members of the public shot by black suspects ?

Why is it that when a white officer gets shot by a black suspect we don't hear of rioting, looting and disorder ?

It is just yet another dead officer shot in the line of duty. Maybe they should start to

Is there any wonder they shoot first and ask questions later when they can be gunned down for simply stopping a car for a routine traffic stop ?

If an armed officer ever tells me to get on the ground I can tell you that I will be on the ground faster than he can draw his weapon

Are black people absolved of obeying an officer of the law just because they are black ? Does it never occur to people that the reason more black suspects are shot is the white people do as the officer tells them like they have been brought up to do ?

Why is the fact that black people are many times more likely to be assaulted or shot by another black person never mentioned in the media ?

[Rancid]

Is that like being moved to an inactive post? Similarities just keep on coming...