Dallas police fire officer who shot neighbor

Victim of shooting buried in homeland

The Associated Press

DALLAS — A white Dallas police officer who fatally shot her black neighbor inside his own apartment was fired Monday, the same day the man was being buried in his Caribbean homeland.

Police Chief U. Renee Hall dismissed Officer Amber Guyger during a hearing Monday, according to the police department. Ms. Guyger is charged with manslaughter in the Sept. 6 shooting that left 26-year-old Botham Jean dead, and she was fired because of her arrest, according to the department.

Court records show Ms. Guyger said she thought she had encountered a burglar inside her own home. She was arrested three days later and is currently out on bond.

A statement from police said an internal investigation concluded that on Sept. 9, Ms. Guyger, a four-year veteran of the force, “engaged in adverse conduct when she was arrested for Manslaughter.” Dallas police spokesman Sgt. Warren Mitchell later said that when an officer has been arrested for a crime, “adverse conduct” is often cited in the officer’s termination.

Sgt. Mitchell said that adverse conduct is “conduct which adversely affects the [morale] or efficiency of the Department or which has a tendency to adversely affect, lower, destroy public respect and confidence in the Department or officer.”

One of the attorneys for Mr. Jean’s family, Lee Merritt, said Mr. Jean was being buried Monday in St. Lucia.

Dallas County District Attorney Faith Johnson has said the case will be presented to a grand jury, which could decide a more serious charge than manslaughter.

Days before the firing, Chief Hall said in a statement that she had not taken action against Ms. Guyger because she did not want to interfere with the ongoing probe.

There are conflicting narratives over what led up to the shooting.

Ms. Guyger told investigators that she had just ended a shift when she returned in uniform to the South Side Flats apartment complex where she lived.

She said when she put her key in the apartment door, which was unlocked and slightly ajar, it opened, according to the affidavit. Inside, the lights were off, and she saw a figure in the darkness that cast a large silhouette across the room, according to the officer’s account.

Ms. Guyger said she concluded her apartment was being burglarized and gave verbal commands to the person, who ignored them. The affidavit said she then drew her weapon and fired twice.

According to an affidavit for a search warrant, Mr. Jean “confronted the officer at the door.”

Mr. Merritt has called into question Ms. Guyger’s narrative. The lawyer has said that two independent witnesses have told him they heard knocking on the door in the hallway before the shooting.

He said one witness reported hearing a woman’s voice saying, “Let me in! Let me in!”