Police officer fired after teen fatally shot in Dallas suburb
Family calls death a ‘senseless murder’
A police officer who fatally shot a teenager with a rifle was fired amid an emotionally charged investigation, police confirmed Tuesday.
The Balch Springs Police Department said Officer Roy Oliver was fired for violating department policies.
The firing came hours after the boy’s family called the killing a “violent, senseless murder.”
Police in this city of about 25,000, 15 miles east of Dallas, responded to a report of intoxicated teens when officers heard gunfire. Initially, Police Chief Jonathan Haber said a car was backing up toward police on the street when an officer armed with a rifle shot Jordan Edwards, 15, a passenger in the car.
Haber corrected the story in a news conference late Monday, saying video from the scene shows the car backing up, then moving forward and fleeing the scene when Jordan was shot in the head.
What he saw on the video was not “consistent with the policies and core values of the Balch Springs Police Department,” Haber said.
The Dallas County Medical Examiner classified the teen’s death as a homicide by rifle wound to the head.
Jordan’s family issued a statement Tuesday thanking the community for its support. The statement described Jordan as “loving, humble and sharing ” and said the impact on his siblings was immense.
“No one, let alone young children, should witness such horrific, unexplainable violence,” the statement said.
The family said it did not condone violence or threats against police and asked that no protests or marches be held while funeral preparations were underway.
“What we desire, only second to having our beloved Jordan back, is JUSTICE FOR JORDAN,” the statement said.
The family’s lawyer, Lee Merritt, said there was no reason for police to shoot at the car. He said the family wants the officer charged. “There can be, there is no, there will be no justification,” Merritt said. “We are declaring war on bad policing. This is happening far too often.”
NAACP Dallas President Aubrey Hooper said Jordan’s death was a tragedy that could have been avoided.
She said the policing practices seemed “excessive. “
“There are best practices in (the) law enforcement profession that do not involve the use of deadly force,” she said.
The Mesquite school district issued a statement saying Jordan was a good student who was “very well-liked by his teachers, coaches and fellow students.”
Family and friends gathered for a vigil Monday night on ball fields near Mesquite High School.
Alandre Henderson, a friend of Jordan’s, said he had gone to the party and had ridden in a car with Jordan. He wasn’t there when the shooting happened, he said, adding that it “hurts to see my brother get shot.”
The Dallas County District Attorney’s Office said its civil rights team will conduct an “impartial and independent investigation.” The police chief made a similar promise.
He said he had spoken with Jordan’s family. “My heart just skips a beat,” Haber said. “From one father to another, I can’t even express what they are going through.”
Odell Edwards and his wife, Charmaine, say they want justice, not violence after the death of their son Jordan in a police shooting in Balch Springs, Texas.