An unarmed college football player was shot dead at a
suburban Dallas car dealership by a trainee police officer during a
middle-of-the-night burglary call. The death of 19-year-old Christian Taylor
has raised some of the same questions as other recent police shootings
involving unarmed suspects.
Here are some things to know about the investigation:
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THE POLICE ACCOUNT
Police were contacted by a company that manages security
cameras at Classic Buick GMC in Arlington at about 1 a.m. Friday. Sgt. Paul
Rodriguez, an Arlington police spokesman, told The Associated Press that police
were advised that someone
had driven a car onto the lot, started to damage
another car, then drove his own vehicle into the glass front of the showroom.
Officer Brad Miller and another officer entered the
dealership and approached the subject as other officers set a perimeter around
the dealership, Rodriguez said.
According to a police statement, an "altercation"
of some kind ensued and Miller shot Taylor.
Police Chief Will Johnson said Miller fired four times,
hitting Taylor with multiple gunshots. The other officer with Miller used his
Taser, but not his gun.
———
THE ROOKIE OFFICER
Miller, 49, joined Arlington's police department in
September. Although he had completed the police academy and was a fully
licensed officer, he was still completing a 16-week field training program
required of new officers, Rodriguez said. His training officer was with him at
the time of the shooting, Rodriguez said.
Miller has no disciplinary record and had not fired his gun
in the line of duty before Friday, Rodriguez said.
His work history before joining the Arlington police is
unclear. State records show his name and address listed as an executive with
two businesses, one of which was a web hosting service that is now dormant.
———
THE FOOTBALL PLAYER
Taylor graduated last year from Mansfield Summit High School
in Arlington and was listed on Angelo State's roster as a 5-foot-9, 180-pound
defensive back.
In his only known criminal charge, Taylor received six
months' deferred adjudication on a drug charge after police found him with 11
hydrocodone tablets that were not prescribed to him, the Fort Worth
Star-Telegram reported. He completed that sentence and the case was dismissed.
His father, Adrian Taylor, told KTVT-TV in Dallas-Fort Worth
that his son was "just a good dude" who would give the shoes off his
feet to someone in need. He said he didn't know why Christian would have been
at the car dealership at that time of night, but that he shouldn't have been
killed.
"You know, it could have been too much drinking, he
could have been wrong place at the wrong time, he could have gotten something
and he didn't know what he was getting," Adrian Taylor said.
———
THE INVESTIGATION
Police say they are investigating Taylor's death both as a
possible criminal case and to determine whether department rules were broken.
Johnson said he's also asked the FBI's Dallas field office to investigate the
case.
credit:NOMAAN MERCHANT Associated Press
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