DALLAS — A suburban Dallas police department has fired the police officer who shot and killed a black 15-year-old boy who was riding in a vehicle while leaving a house party.
The Balch Springs Police Department said Tuesday that officer Roy Oliver was terminated for violating department policies during the Saturday night shooting that killed Jordan Edwards.
Edwards was shot and killed by an unnamed officer, while he was in the passenger seat of a car leaving a party Saturday night. Balch Springs Police Chief Jonathan Haber Monday said the car was driving away from officers, not reversing toward them as officials had originally said.
Haber said he was troubled by what he saw in the video but wouldn’t release details other than to acknowledge he erred in describing the encounter.
Lee Merritt, an attorney for Edwards’ family, said the officer shot him with a rifle through the front passenger side window.
Thousands of people have posted about the case online, some comparing it to other police shootings of black men.
The family of the teen says they don’t condone violence or threats made against the Balch Springs Police Department or other members of law enforcement
Edwards’ family asks for space to grieve, noting that Edwards’ two brothers witnessed the shooting.
An attorney for Edwards’ family told The Associated Press that the shooting brings to mind the high-profile deaths of other black people after police encounters that have sparked outrage and protest in recent years. He said that this case stood out for its “sheer recklessness.”
