Officer who killed black teen could spend life in jail

A Texas police officer turned himself in after he was charged with murder in the shooting death of a 15-year-old.

Roy Durwood Oliver, a patrol officer in the Dallas suburb of Balch Springs since July 2011, was released on bail.

While dispatched on complaints about drunk teenagers at a party a week ago, Oliver fired his rifle at a car full of teenagers who were leaving, according to investigators, killing Jordan Edwards. The police department fired Oliver last Wednesday.

If convicted of the murder charge, he could spend the rest of his life in prison. Jordan’s family said the charge “brings hope that the justice system will bend against the overwhelming weight of our frustration”. A funeral for the Mesquite High School teen is scheduled for next weekend.

Because Jordan was black, the shoot- ing has thrust the North Texas town of 25,000 into the ongoing debate about whether police are too quick to use deadly force on blacks and other minorities.

It can be to bring charges against officers in such cases.

In recent years, shootings like the one in Texas have often caused mass protests under the “Black Lives Matter” banner. But activists involved with the movement say they are beginning to shift their focus more towards policy and organising locally and politically rather than simply on protests.

The Texas teen is the youngest of the 339 people shot and killed by police so far in 2017, according to a Washington Post database tracking such shootings. At least 10 people shot and killed by police this year were under 18.