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Dallas PD officer walks into wrong apartment. Kills neighbor

Scoop

.30-06
This is breaking news. I'll have some thoughts about this when more info comes out. Scoop

Manslaughter warrant sought for Dallas officer who shot, killed man in wrong apartment
by The Associated Press/CNN Newsource Friday, September 7th 2018

DALLAS (AP) — A Dallas police officer returning home from work shot and killed a neighbor after she said she mistook his apartment for her own, police said Friday.

The officer called dispatch to report that she had shot the man Thursday night, police said. She told responding officers that she believed the victim's apartment was her own when she entered it.

The responding officers administered first aid to the victim, whom the Dallas County medical examiner's office identified as 26-year-old Botham Jean. He was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead.

Police haven't released the name of the officer, who wasn't injured. She will be placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation, police said.

The Dallas police chief says her department is seeking a warrant for manslaughter in the shooting.

Authorities haven't said how the officer got into Jean's home, or whether his door was open or unlocked.

"We still have a lot to do in this investigation. So there's a lot of information I understand you guys want but this is all we can give you at this time," Mitchell said.​

When asked if anyone else had witnessed the shooting, Warren replied, "We have not spoken to anyone else at this time."

Police said they are conducting a joint investigation with the Dallas County district attorney's office.​
 
I've had some really hard shifts. Some lasting for more than 27 hours straight.

I have never went to the wrong house. And mistaken it for my own.
 
I've had some really hard shifts. Some lasting for more than 27 hours straight.

I have never went to the wrong house. And mistaken it for my own.

Either drunk, high, negligent discharge or premeditated murder.

No effing way she walks in and not know that's not her furniture.
 
Either drunk, high, negligent discharge or premeditated murder.

No effing way she walks in and not know that's not her furniture.

Yeah, that's what I was thinking. You could blind fold me and drive me around town for an hour and walk me into your house or mine, and take the blindfold off and ask me if I'm in my house or yours and within a second, I would be able to answer that correctly.

Lots of people that are inibriated seem to want to go into other peoples houses thinking it was their own. But in life, there are no do-overs. Especially for something like this when someone is killed. Actions have consequences. Right or wrong.

The negligent discharge is not really questioned. It was negligent. It's hard to fathom anything other than that, but I'm sure there were other circumstances that were leading up to that.

You don't walk into someone elses' house thinking it was your own. Most people are not that stupid.
 
...You don't walk into someone elses' house thinking it was your own. Most people are not that stupid.

We have had cases where people did walk into another's home thinking it was theirs. They were shot at by the homeowners. One that comes to mind was an Alzheimer patient that was "lost" in his neighborhood and another was an intoxicated male. Patient died but the drunk lived.

However, I agree with you, John, that a sober/unimpaired adult has no excuse.

Right now w/ limited info in first news release I'm spring-loaded to wrongful death at a minimum. But I'm looking forward to more facts.
 
Nothing about this case passes the smell test, including that they have already decided to charge the officer with manslaughter... ON THE SAME DAY AS THE SHOOTING!!!

DPD and the Dallas city government have long had a reputation for being crooked. I wonder why?
 
The negligent discharge is not really questioned. It was negligent. It's hard to fathom anything other than that, but I'm sure there were other circumstances that were leading up to that.

You don't walk into someone elses' house thinking it was your own. Most people are not that stupid.

I was thinking she was showing off her gun to the neighbor and shot him and then made up the story as a cover regarding the ND.
 
by RYAN TARINELLI, Associated Press Friday, September 7th 2018

DALLAS — Authorities are seeking a manslaughter warrant for a Dallas police officer who shot and killed a neighbor after she said she mistook his apartment for her own, police said Friday.
It was not clear what the officer may have said to 26-year-old Botham Jean after entering his home late Thursday. But given what investigators currently know about the case, they decided to pursue a manslaughter case, police said.
"Right now, there are more questions than we have answers," Police Chief U. Renee Hall said at a news conference Friday afternoon. She said she spoke to Jean's sister to express condolences to the family.
It was also unclear if the officer was in custody. Hall said she did not know the whereabouts of the officer, whose name was not released.

According to police, the officer returned home in her uniform after her shift. She called dispatch to report that she had shot a man, and she later told the officers who responded that she believed the victim's apartment was her own when she entered it.
The responding officers administered first aid to Jean, a native of the Caribbean country of St. Lucia who attended college in Arkansas and worked for accounting and consulting firm PwC. Jean was taken to a hospital, where he died.
Hall said the officer's blood was drawn to be tested for drugs and alcohol. She declined to speculate as to whether fatigue or other factors may have factored into the shooting. She also said the Texas Rangers will conduct an independent investigation.
Jean grew up in St. Lucia and attended Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas, where he majored in accounting and information systems and often led campus worship services before graduating in 2016, the school said in a statement. That July, he went to work for PwC in risk assurance. The company in a statement that it was "simply heartbroken to hear of his death."

Family and friends described Jean as a devout Christian and a talented singer. His uncle Ignatius Jean said the slaying left relatives devastated and looking for answers.
"You want to think it's fiction ... and you have to grapple with the reality," he said.
He called Jean a "brilliant" man of "impeccable character" and said news of his death had rippled across the small island nation of St. Lucia.
"Botham was in the prime of his life," his uncle said.

Nathan Monan, a friend from Harding University, said Botham Jean was kind to everybody and would often lead people in song during chapel at the private university in Arkansas.
"He lived what he spoke," Monan said, adding that Jean's death has stirred emotions of overwhelming sadness and anger. "This doesn't make sense to anybody right now."
A YouTube video posted in 2014 shows Jean making his pitch to become the university's student association president.
"I want to serve," he says in the video. "My Harding experience has really inspired me to want to serve and I want every student at Harding to have the best Harding experience possible."

Authorities have not said how the officer got into Jean's home, or whether his door was open or unlocked. The apartment complex is just a few blocks from Dallas police headquarters.

Residents of the complex said they can access their units with a key or through a keypad code.
Jeffrey Scherzer, who lives there, said when he returned home after the shooting, an officer escorted him to his apartment and warned him to steer clear of a blood trail.
Two women who live on the second floor near where the shooting happened said they heard a lot of noise late Thursday.
"It was, like, police talk: 'Open up! Open up!'" Caitlin Simpson, 20, told The Dallas Morning News.
Yazmine Hernandez, 20, was studying with Simpson when they heard the commotion.

"We heard cops yelling, but otherwise had no idea what was going on," Hernandez said.

Attorney Lee Merritt, who has been involved with high-profile cases in North Texas, said Friday the officer should have already been arrested, like any other person in a similar situation.
 
UPDATE
Link to story and 1:20 video
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/ex-dallas-officer-who-shot-botham-jean-says-911-call-n1000316

April 30, 2019, 4:58 PM EDT / Updated April 30, 2019, 7:39 PM EDT
By Janelle Griffith
A former Dallas police officer who fatally shot an unarmed black man in his own home told a 911 dispatcher she "thought it was my apartment" as she waited for emergency responders to arrive.

180921-botham-jean-al-1456_13c6a3b6a493b018689eafa00924fa91.fit-760w.jpg

Botham JeanHarding University
In the recording obtained this week by local television station WFAA, Amber Guyger, who was fired in September, identifies herself as an off-duty officer and says "I thought I was in my apartment and I shot a guy thinking that he was ... thinking it was my apartment.”


The dispatcher responded: “You shot someone?”

Guyger replied: “Yes, I thought it was my apartment. I’m f-----. Oh my God. I'm sorry.”

The Dallas Police Department said in a statement Tuesday that it did not authorize the release of the recording of Guyger's call following the shooting of Botham Jean and have launched an internal investigation into how it was obtained by WFAA.

The department said that it has received numerous open records requests for the recording but that it did not release it, citing the law enforcement exception for a pending criminal investigation granted by the Texas attorney general.

A Dallas County grand jury indicted Guyger on a murder charge in November over the Sept. 6 killing of Jean in his apartment, which was one floor above hers.

Guyger, who is white, said she was returning from her shift and was dressed in her uniform on the night she allegedly mistook Jean’s apartment for her own, according to an arrest warrant. She claimed that his door was slightly ajar and that it opened when she tried to unlock it. Guyger told investigators she thought she had encountered an intruder and that "the person did not follow her commands."

181130-amber-guyger-ac-819p_551e0ac1fcf0b252509ae1362ea89790.fit-760w.jpg

Amber Guyger
Lee Merritt, one of the attorneys for Jean's family, has said that two independent witnesses cast doubt on Guyger's narrative and told him they heard knocking on the door in the hallway before the shooting.

Jean, a 26-year-old native of St. Lucia, died at the hospital. His mother, Allison Jean, has said that he had moved to Dallas to work for accounting and consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Jean's family filed a federal lawsuit against Guyger and the city of Dallas in October, alleging Guyger used excessive force and violated his civil rights.

Guyger's trial is expected to begin in September.
 
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