The white cop who killed a black man in his own home was on Sunday arrested on a manslaughter charge.
Amber Guyger, 30, was off-duty when she shot Botham Shem Jean in his house on Thursday last week.
According to reports, Guyger arrived at their apartment block, South Side Flats in Dallas, and ‘mistakenly’ went to Jean’s apartment thinking it was hers. When her key did not work, Jean opened the door and was fatally shot.
The 4-year veteran police officer then called dispatchers to report the shooting and told the officers that she had mistaken Jean’s apartment for her own.
Jean, a 26-year old graduate of Harding University in Arkansas and a risk assurance associate died later in a hospital. The news of his death resulted in the call for disarming of the police, with mourners holding up banners reading “Disarm off duty police,” “Life is not a white privilege” and “Where is justice when police kill us?”
Dallas Police Chief U. Renee Hall on Friday ordered for the arrest of Guyger, who had also been implicated in another shooting in 2017.
According to the police, they were able to obtain blood samples from Guyger to test for drugs and alcohol. They were also able to determine that they were dealing with a unique situation beyond just an officer-involved shooting.
The case has been taken up by the Texas Rangers.
My statement on tonight’s arrest of Amber Guyger pic.twitter.com/pIfToTpSsN
— Mike Rawlings (@Mike_Rawlings) September 10, 2018
Meanwhile, Jean’s mother Allison Jean has said that her son was a loving son and brother dedicated to helping others.
“Botham did everything with passion,” Allison Jean told the prayer service on Saturday. “God gave me an angel.”
While Jean’s lawyers call for due process in the investigation, they maintained that Guyger should “be treated like every other citizen, and where there is evidence that they’ve committed a crime, that there’s a warrant to be issued and an arrest to be made.”
Guyger was however released on Sunday evening after posting a $300,000 bail.
