Christian Taylor, a 19-year-old college football player from Texas, was killed by an officer-in-training during a burglary call to a vehicle dealership in Arlington, local police have confirmed.
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Officer Brad Miller, who is accused of shooting an unarmed black teenager, is seen in a handout photo provided by the Arlington Police Department on August 7, 2015. Other officers were also present, but were setting up perimeter limits when the shooting happened.
Officers had gone to the vehicle dealer at the request of Stealth Monitoring of Addison, Texas, a company that manages the security cameras on the lots outside the auto showroom.
The police statement said Miller had no police experience before joining the Arlington police force.
While the details of the shooting are still being sorted out, the news of an unarmed black teen shot by a white officer – especially so close to the one-year anniversary of Michael Brown’s death – was sure to draw national attention. He said Taylor was apparently driving around the showroom and fled when officers told him to lie on the ground. Police say the officer had never before fired his weapon in the line of duty.
Taylor, 19, was apparently influenced by both Brown’s death and the movement, as was evidenced in his Twitter feed.
Police officials haven’t yet decided whether they will release video of the incident.
Taylor, who attended high school in Mansfield and was scheduled to start his sophomore year at Angelo State University, was shot as officers responded to a burglary call at an automobile dealership near Interstate 20 and Collins.
The incident is being investigated by the Arlington Police Department and the Dallas field office of the FBI, said Police Chief Will Johnson at a press conference Saturday night. Taylor turned around and began walking on the car’s front hood – and was caught on camera kicking the front windshield.
Police Chief Will Johnson said Miller fired four times, hitting Taylor with multiple gunshots.
“We recognize the importance of these topics, the impact these issues have on communities throughout our nation, and we pledge to act in a transparent manner in an effort to alleviate these concerns”, Johnson said.
Audio of the encounter between Taylor and police suggest he was shot less than two seconds after officers saw him.
Because he was not arrested again during his probation, he successfully completed the program in June and his case was dismissed July 14.
“You already know, it might have been an excessive amount of consuming, he might have been improper place on the incorrect time, he might have gotten one thing and he did not know what he was getting”, Adrian Taylor stated.
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Taylor drove his Jeep through an Arlington dealership, triggering a burglar alarm at the Classic Buick GMC dealership on I-20 and S. Collins Street in Arlington.
