The Balch Springs, Tex., police officer who shot and killed Jordan Edwards, a 15-year-old black high school freshman, has been fired after an internal affairs investigation concluded he violated multiple department policies, officials announced Tuesday night.

Officials identified the officer as Roy Oliver and said he had been with the department since July 2011.

“After reviewing the findings I have made the decision to terminate Roy Oliver’s employment with the Balch Springs Police Department,” chief Jonathan Haber told reporters Tuesday evening. “My department will continue to be responsive, transparent and accountable.”

The shooting occurred around 11 p.m. Saturday evening, after officers got a call concerning intoxicated teenagers and arrived to find a house party. Department spokesman Pedro Gonzalez said that while officers were inside the house, they heard gunshots outside.

Officers left the house and saw a vehicle backing into the street, Gonzalez said. Officers yelled for the driver to stop, but the vehicle began pulling forward to drive away. Police opened fire and a single bullet struck and killed Edwards, who was riding in the passenger seat.

Police initially said that the vehicle reversed “aggressively” at the approaching officers, but they later retracted that statement and said that body camera video showed that the vehicle was driving away from officers when Oliver opened fire.

“It has been determined that Roy Oliver, who was the second officer on the scene, violated several departmental policies,” Gonzalez said. He did not specify which policies had been violated.

Edwards is the youngest of the 333 people shot and killed by police so far in 2017, according to a Washington Post database tracking such shootings. At least 10 people shot and killed by police this year were under 18.

The Dallas County Sheriff’s Department and the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office are conducting their own investigation of the shooting.

Oliver has the right to appeal his termination. His attorney, Cindy Stormer, called for patience in a statement provided to the Dallas Morning News.

Source: WashingtonPost.com

Date Posted: Wednesday, May 3rd, 2017 , Total Page Views: 2177