T1B

An off-duty Dallas police officer who fatally shot her neighbor in his apartment, claiming she mistook the unit for her own, told the authorities that the door was already ajar when she entered and that she shot him after he ignored verbal commands, according to court records released on Monday.

The officer, Amber R. Guyger, 30, who has been charged with manslaughter, could face additional charges in a case that has led to accusations that the officer received preferential treatment and debate about whether race may have played a role in the deadly encounter between a white police officer and a black man in his home.

On Monday, the Dallas County district attorney, Faith Johnson, insisted that the investigation into the death of the neighbor, Botham Shem Jean, 26, had not ended and that her office could seek charges “including anything from murder to manslaughter.”

“We’ll present a thorough case to the grand jury so that a right decision can be made,” Ms. Johnson said at a news conference.
Dallas has been gripped by rising tensions since Thursday night, when, the police said, Officer Guyger returned to her apartment complex after a shift in full uniform at about 10 p.m. and shot Mr. Jean in his home.

Officer Guyger, who lives in a unit directly underneath Mr. Jean’s, parked her car on the wrong floor of the parking garage and walked to what she thought was her apartment, according to an arrest warrant affidavit. She inserted her electronic key into the door, which was already ajar, according to the affidavit. Inside the dark apartment, she saw a “large silhouette” that she believed to be a burglar, the affidavit said.

She gave “verbal commands” before firing her weapon twice, striking him once in the chest, the authorities said. The affidavit did not detail the nature of the commands, or how much time passed before shots were fired.

While on the phone with 911, Officer Guyger turned on the lights and realized she was in the wrong apartment, according to the affidavit.
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The authorities took a blood sample from Officer Guyger to test for drugs and alcohol, but the results have not been released.

Lee Merritt, a lawyer for Mr. Jean’s family, challenged several aspects of the officer’s account, including her claim that the door was ajar. He said witnesses had told the district attorney’s office that they heard banging on the door and a woman’s voice saying, “Let me in.”

Even if Officer Guyger did mistake the apartment — which has a distinctive red doormat outside — for her own, he said, there is no indication that Mr. Jean acted aggressively to make the officer fear for her life.

“It would be irresponsible to rely on this extremely bizarre, self-serving affidavit,” said Mr. Merritt, who has also questioned why the authorities did not immediately arrest Officer Guyger.

Questions about how the case was being handled only intensified after Officer Guyger was allowed to turn herself in to the authorities in Kaufman County, a mostly rural county southeast of Dallas, and be booked at a jail farther away.

“We don’t want it lost on anyone that, had this been a regular citizen, she would have never left the crime scene,” Mr. Merritt said.

Left Seater wrote: So what exactly are you bitching about? Maybe your preferred “news” organizations are trying to spin this to some leftist extreme situation, but that just says something about those “news” organizations and the fact you seek them out for “news.”

Killian wrote:After a cursory search, I see you have never posted about Daniel Shaver. Why? That was the most blatant form of police execution you could possibly have, but nary a word from you. My guess is because Shaver is white, and you are only interested when black people are shot because you want to perpetuate this myth that blacks are systematically being targeted due to some form of inherent racism among police officers around the country.

Your shtick is tired.

Screw_Michigan wrote:

Killian wrote:After a cursory search, I see you have never posted about Daniel Shaver. Why? That was the most blatant form of police execution you could possibly have, but nary a word from you. My guess is because Shaver is white, and you are only interested when black people are shot because you want to perpetuate this myth that blacks are systematically being targeted due to some form of inherent racism among police officers around the country.

Your shtick is tired.

It has nothing to do with race, you god forsaken moron, it has everything to do with out of control police with little accountability to anyone but themselves. But continue on with your pathetic white grievance. It fits you well.

Screw_Michigan wrote:the Dallas Police Department has been going through extraordinary effort to cover this up

Rooster wrote:I believe the manslaughter charge is not sufficient. If the roles had been reversed and the guy had illegally entered her apartment and then shot her, he’d be charged with homicide. That is the acid test of what the charges against her should be.

Dinsdale wrote:

Rooster wrote:I believe the manslaughter charge is not sufficient. If the roles had been reversed and the guy had illegally entered her apartment and then shot her, he’d be charged with homicide. That is the acid test of what the charges against her should be.

It sounds like they're considering murder charges, but are getting their ducks in a row before an indictment. The manslaughter seems like a no-brainer for now.

Screw_Michigan wrote:

Left Seater wrote: So what exactly are you bitching about? Maybe your preferred “news” organizations are trying to spin this to some leftist extreme situation, but that just says something about those “news” organizations and the fact you seek them out for “news.”

Their reporting spins it as the officer made an innocent mistake. Like this whole nonsense about how he "didn't respond to her commands."

Left Seater wrote: Again, what does that say about their reporting? What does it say about you that you turn to them for “news?”

ML@Coyote wrote:Doing the math:

From the pro-Screwy article I posted above, 900 cops are arrested each year for crimes.

We know there are about 850,000 officers in the country.

Therefore the percentage of cops who get in trouble is about 0.1%

Does 0.1% equal "out of control?"

Not to me.

Left Seater wrote:This fits with Screwy’s first post as well where he wanted to nail a white out of control cop.

Screw_Michigan wrote: It has nothing to do with race, you god forsaken moron...

Jay in Phoenix wrote:Marty, Screw said, "An off duty Dallas police officer committed a home invasion last week and blew away a 26 year old balck man in his own home."

By referring to the victim's ethnicity, the racism becomes implied.

If race doesn't matter here, why bring it up?

Left Seater wrote:Ask yourself, had the victim been a white gun loving GOP voter, would Screwy even posted anything on this.

Left Seater wrote:

Jay in Phoenix wrote:Marty, Screw said, "An off duty Dallas police officer committed a home invasion last week and blew away a 26 year old balck man in his own home."

By referring to the victim's ethnicity, the racism becomes implied.

If race doesn't matter here, why bring it up?

This. Screwy couldn’t even get one sentence in before introducing race.

Ask yourself, had the victim been a white gun loving GOP voter, would Screwy even posted anything on this.

Killian wrote:Hence his dodging and silence of my question about Shaver. That instance was this biggest overuse of force by a cop I've seen and it resulted in Shaver being blown away, but he was white so almost no media coverage and nothing from race baiters like Fredo.

Left Seater wrote: Ask yourself, had the victim been a white gun loving GOP voter, would Screwy even posted anything on this.

Killian wrote:Total, irresponsible speculation: She was intoxicated and she was trying to cover up that aspect.

Screw_Michigan wrote:Good to see Dallas police planted weed on the victim in an attempt to discredit him.

ML@Coyote wrote:

Screw_Michigan wrote:Good to see Dallas police planted weed on the victim in an attempt to discredit him.

Actually, it went down like this: Trump got wind of an up and coming black man in Dallas who, by good fortune, lived directly below a Dallas PD officer's apartment. Being the racist that he is, Trump wanted the uppity negro snuffed. Trump then called his friend Putin, and Putin arranged for the Russian Mafia to meet with the Dallas Chief of Police. The Chief met with his female officer at an out of the way diner and explained the situation to her. The plan was to enter the man's apartment and pretend she thought it was her own, and to shoot him as an intruder who failed to follow commands. They would plant the weed in his apartment to make him seem like one of your typical irresponsible pot smoking blacks who would defy police commands. It seemed like a good idea at the time, and the female officer agreed to go along with the plan. Everything was going along just fine, and it looked like the female officer was going to get away with it, until the story was taken to the local Dallas press by a concerned neighbor who was inspired by Colin Kaepernick taking a knee to do the right thing. She said, "If I wasn't a football fan, I probably would have done nothing about this."

Killian wrote:if you are really trying to be serious, this is when you lose all credibility. Planted weed? Highly unlikely. The fact the cops even went into that apartment with a search warrant is what you should be bitching about, and rightfully so. It doesn't matter if he was cooking crystal meth in that place, it was his home and he was gunned down in it.

I know this is hard for lefties, but focus on the facts. It'll get you a lot farther.