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The senseless killing of unarmed Black men by police officers is cancer to this nation that may not be cured any time soon.
On Thursday night, an off-duty Dallas police officer Amber Guyger shot and killed her black neighbor, 26-year-old Botham Jean, inside his home claiming that she entered his apartment after mistaking it for her own.
Dallas Police Chief U. Renee Hall told reporters, “It’s not clear what [the] interaction was between them. At some point, she fired her weapon, striking the victim.” Shortly after, Jean was rushed to the hospital where he was pronounced dead. Chief Hall initially said the department was seeking an arrest warrant for manslaughter. However, on Saturday, the Texas Rangers had asked Dallas police to hold off while the state’s Department of Public Safety investigates the incident.
She added, “Right now there are more questions than we have answers. We are working as vigorously and as meticulously as we can to ensure the integrity of this case.” As for whether or not Guyer was under the influence when she fatally shot Jean, Hall said that a blood sample was taken from Guyger to determine if drugs or alcohol were in her system.
The horrific part about the incident is that this isn’t Guyer’s first time getting in trouble for being way too gun happy. Last year, she was involved in another shooting in 2017, when she shot a suspect in the abdomen after he took her Taser in a struggle. Meanwhile, Botham Jean was just a Harding University student from St. Lucia whose only plans was to make the world a better place in anyway he can.
One of his former classmates told Buzzfeed News, “He was an outstanding, Godly man and he will be sorely missed,” Lewis said. “He’s not even from the United States and now he is another victim of the racism black Americans face on a daily basis. It boils my blood that he had to die under such terms and so young.”
The investigation is still underway. Our prayers are with the Jean family at this time.
