Police killed 193 inside moving vehicles since ’15
BALCH SPRINGS, Texas — Police in this Dallas suburb said Tuesday night that they fired officer Roy Oliver for a violation of department policy after he shot and killed Jordan Edwards, a 15-year-old boy riding in the passenger seat of a car that was driving away from a house party.
Edwards’ death is one of dozens of shootings in recent years of men and women who were inside moving vehicles at the time they were shot, even after decades of urging from policing experts and reformers nationwide that departments ban officers from opening fire on moving vehicles.
Since January 2015, police nationwide have killed at least 193 people who were inside vehicles at the time they were shot, according to a Washington Post database that tracks fatal police shootings. In 86 of the cases, officers say the person was in possession of a weapon, most often a firearm. But in 76 of the cases, the person killed was “armed” only with the vehicle itself, according to police.
In at least 17 cases, police acknowledge that the person killed was in the act of fleeing, was a passenger in a vehicle or was in a vehicle that was not in motion and did not pose a threat to officers.
Edwards, who is the youngest person police have shot and killed in 2017, died Saturday night after police responded to a call about intoxicated teens at a house party. Police say that as officers dispersed the party they heard gunshots outside. Then, when officers went outside to investigate, they saw a car backing out of a parking spot. As officers approached the vehicle, police say it began to drive away. Oliver opened fire.
Balch Springs officers operate under an eightpage use-of-force policy. A copy of the 2016 version, obtained by the Post, specifically instructs officers to move out of the way of an oncoming vehicle when possible, rather than opening fire.
However, if an officer reasonably believes that a person is immediately threatening the officer or another person with deadly force by means of a vehicle, an officer may use deadly force against the driver of the vehicle.
After reviewing body camera video of the shooting, which has not been released publicly, Balch Springs police officials fired Oliver.
“It has been determined that Roy Oliver, who was the second officer on the scene, violated several departmental policies,” said department spokesman Pedro Gonzalez.