Police said Taylor, a sophomore defensive back at Division II Angelo State, was shot around 1 a.m. Friday.
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But, the chief said, Miller should not have entered the showroom of the auto dealership where Taylor was standing during a burglary call without notifying his supervising officer. Johnson said Taylor was seven to 10 feet from Miller when Miller fired three shots from his firearm, killing Taylor. Although he completed the police academy and was a fully licensed officer, he was still finishing a 16-week field-training program required of new officers.
Alexander said the fact that the video tape concerning Paul’s death has not been released had shaken his faith that police will be forthcoming with their investigation of Taylor’s death.
An unarmed college football player tried to smash through a locked glass door in a North Texas auto dealership showroom to escape an officer in training but then began advancing toward the officer before he was fatally shot, according to the Arlington police chief.
One of Taylor’s former classmates at Mansfield’s Summit High School, 20-year-old Matthew Higgins, said Miller’s firing is “not enough justice”.
Johnson announced the firing and laid out the timeline of the shooting, Tuesday afternoon, ahead of a protest held in Arlington.
Miller entered the dealership alone, without establishing a coordinated response with other officers, the chief said.
Officers noticed that Taylor had a “bulge” in the pocket of his shorts, which Johnson said turned out to be a wallet and cellphone.
The Arlington Municipal Patrolman’s Association, the local police union, said in a statement late Tuesday that it supports Miller’s right to be “judged fairly and completely on facts instead of a snapshot developed in only days”.
There was never any physical contact between the officers and Taylor.
“Department employees circulated these emails on unclassified systems in 2009 and 2011 and ultimately some were forwarded to Secretary Clinton”, said State Department spokesman John Kirby. Officers were responding to a burglary call in Arlington when they discovered someone had driven a vehicle through a front window of the Classic Buick GMC, according to a statement from the Arlington Police Department. Taylor then drove his own vehicle through a dealership showroom. While he said he had “serious concerns” about Miller’s use of deadly force, Johnson said it would be up to a grand jury to decide whether Miller’s actions were criminal.
The officers confronted the teen, and as he appeared to flee, the training officer fired his weapon four times, hitting the teen thrice. Police said they found Taylor roaming inside the dealership and spoke to him through a glass door in which they ordered him to get on the ground.
Police officials will now determine if Mr Miller will face criminal charges for the incident.
A spokeswoman for the Tarrant County district attorney’s office said Paul’s case is still under investigation and could be presented to a grand jury in the future. He has been placed on paid administrative leave.
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His father has said while it appears his son did wrong, he shouldn’t have had to die. “Some communities in our nation have been torn apart by similar challenges”.
