Dallas officer could face more serious charges

HOUSTON – A white Dallas police officer charged with manslaughter in the fatal shooting last week of a black neighbor in an apartment she apparently mistook as her own could face more serious charges, authorities said Monday.

The case will be presented to a grand jury after all evidence related to the shooting Thursday night is collected, Dallas County District Attorney Faith Johnson said.

Officer Amber Guyger, 30, a four-year veteran, was arrested late Sunday in connection with the shooting, booked and freed on $300,000 bail. The Texas Rangers announced the arrest Sunday night but declined to provide details about the case.

The arrest followed outcry from family and friends of victim Botham Shem Jean, 26, a native of the Caribbean island nation of St. Lucia, scion of a prominent, politically connected family.

Police Chief U. Renee

IIIHall said during the weekend that the Texas Rangers asked police not to charge Guyger until they investigated further. Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings posted a tweet thanking investigators and residents for being “respectful of the investigative process over these past few days.”

According to police, Guyger shot and killed Jean after going in uniform from the police department after her shift to the nearby South Side Flats apartment

Mcomplex. After the shooting, she contacted dispatchers and told responding officers that she had mistaken Jean’s apartment for her own. Her blood was drawn at the scene so that it could be tested for alcohol and drugs, the police chief said, but the results have yet to be released.

The Dallas County medical examiner’s office said Monday that he died of a gunshot wounds to the chest and abdomen. His death was ruled a homicide.