She acknowledged the surveillance video of Taylor and questioned how the act of vandalism escalated to a shooting.
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Johnson cited several examples of poor judgement in the incident as reasons for Officer Brad Miller’s termination.
Nevertheless the mistakes he made were enough to warrant his dismissal, he added. None have been filed at this time. The case will then go before a grand jury.
Johnson announced the firing and laid out the timeline of the shooting, Tuesday afternoon, ahead of a protest held in Arlington.
While five of the officers remained outside of the showroom, Miller, a 49-year-old rookie who was still on probation and had no previous policing experience, pursued Taylor inside. A short time later he drove his own SUV through the dealership’s glass windows to enter the showroom.
On Tuesday evening, Adrian Taylor said seeing Miller behind bars wouldn’t make him feel better.
Miller’s training officer, Cpl.
Johnson said Miller shot Taylor when Taylor began to advance toward the officer. Taylor was about 7 to 10 feet away from Miller when the shots were fired.
Police found Taylor roaming inside the dealership, and an officer spoke with him through a glass door and ordered Taylor to get on the ground, Johnson said.
The officers didn’t know whether Taylor was the only suspect and decided to set up a perimeter around the building for safety concerns, Johnson said.
“Thankful for God giving him another chance at life”, reads Adrian Taylor’s biography on the Web page of his non-profit, Comprehensive Community Solutions, Inc.
Miller entered the dealership alone, without establishing a coordinated response with other officers, the chief said.
“Decisions were made that had catastrophic outcomes”, Johnson said. The spokeswoman, Allison Mahan, said that if information came to light indicating a potential federal civil rights violation, “the F.B.I.is prepared to investigate”.
Staff writers Tristan Hallman and Naomi Martin contributed to this post.
ARLINGTON -There was another strong showing Tuesday evening in front of the Arlington Police Department. The officer killed Christian Taylor on Friday after he allegedly broke into an auto dealership in Arlington and told officers he planned to steal a vehicle.
Were Miller’s actions consistent with legally justifiable use of deadly force and his department’s training?
There is no video of the shooting itself, though security camera footage from Classic Buick GMC dealership’s parking lots shows Taylor walking around and damaging some vehicles. The “bulge” turned out to be his wallet and cell phone, police said.
Police said Miller can not appeal his firing because he was a probationary employee.
Miller’s field training officer, who had followed Miller into the showroom, drew his own Taser.
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Although Taylor – a student at Angelo State University in West Texas – failed to heed Mr Miller’s orders, Chief Johnson said that there was no physical contact between the officer and Taylor. The Tarrant County medical examiner lists Taylor’s cause of death as gunshot wounds to the neck, chest and abdomen.
