Updated on Sept. 24, 2018: The Dallas police officer who was charged with manslaughter three days after fatally shooting PwC associate Botham Jean in his apartment on Sept. 6 was fired on Monday by Police Chief U. Renee Hall, according to the Dallas Morning News.
Amber Guyger has been on administrative leave since the shooting and is free on a $300,000 bond as she awaits trial.
The Dallas Police Department released the following statement earlier this morning:
“Dallas Police Chief U. Renee Hall terminated Police Officer Amber Guyger, #10702, during a hearing held September 24, 2018.
“An Internal Affairs investigation concluded that on September 9, 2018, Officer Guyger, #10702, engaged in adverse conduct when she was arrested for Manslaughter.
“Officer Guyger was terminated for her actions. She was hired in November 2013 and was assigned to the Southeast Patrol Division.
“Under civil service rules, Officer Guyger has the right to appeal her discipline.”
— Dallas Police Dept (@DallasPD) September 24, 2018
According to the Dallas Morning News, the announcement of Guyger’s firing came right before Hall attended a City Council Public Safety & Criminal Justice Committee hearing on Monday morning:
The only discussion of the firing during the meeting came when council member Kevin Felder said he had heard Guyger had been fired and asked the chief to confirm.
“That is a true statement,” Hall said, without elaboration.
The timing of Guyger’s firing is somewhat surprising because Hall said last week she couldn’t fire Guyger before an internal investigation was completed because of federal, state and local laws, the Dallas Morning News reported.
Hall’s chief of staff, Thomas Taylor, had said the internal investigation was on hold until a criminal investigation into Guyger was complete.
[Ed. note: The original version of this article was published on Sept. 7 and updated on Sept. 10]
A Dallas police officer was taken into custody yesterday after shooting and killing a 26-year-old PwC associate in his apartment, which she mistakenly believed was her own, on Sept. 6.
Officer Amber Guyger was arrested Sept. 9 on a manslaughter charge in the fatal shooting of Botham Shem Jean, according to the Associated Press. Guyger, who is white, was released on bond.
Jean, a native of the Caribbean nation of Saint Lucia, had worked as a risk assurance associate in PwC’s Dallas office since July 2016, according to his LinkedIn page.
Guyger had arrived at the South Side Flats apartment complex near downtown Dallas on Friday evening, where both she and Jean had apartments, after working a full shift. She was still in uniform when she entered Jean’s apartment, which was unlocked, according to published reports.
Guyger reported the shooting to dispatchers and told officers who responded that she had mistaken Jean’s apartment for her own.
A law enforcement official who spoke with the Dallas Morning News on condition of anonymity said after Guyger worked a 15-hour shift, she parked on the wrong level of the South Side Flats garage—the fourth floor instead of the third, where she lived.
The Dallas Morning News reported:
She went to the door she thought was hers but was one floor too high. The four floors of the South Side Flats in the Cedars look the same, with concrete floors and tan doors. A light fixture to the side of each door displays the apartment number.
The night of the shooting, Guyger didn’t notice that Jean’s door had a red doormat in front of it, the official said. Her entrance didn’t have one.
Guyger, who was still in uniform, put her key in the door, which was unlocked, and the door opened, the official said. The lights were out. She saw a figure in the darkness and thought her apartment was being burglarized, the official said. Guyger pulled her gun and fired twice.
When she turned on the lights, she realized she was in the wrong apartment. Jean, who worked for PricewaterhouseCoopers, was shot once in the chest.
Jean and Guyger did not know each other, and Guyger had recently moved into the apartment complex, the article stated.
After being shot, Jean was taken to Baylor University Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
In a statement released on Twitter on Sept. 7, PwC said:
This is a terrible tragedy. Botham Jean was a member of the PwC family in our Dallas office and we are simply heartbroken to hear of his death.
— PwC US (@PwCUS) September 7, 2018
Tim Ryan, senior partner and chairman of PwC U.S., released the following statement on Twitter:
Botham "Bo" Jean was a dear friend and colleague to many of us, and a member of our PwC family. His tragic death is a terrible loss for us. My heart is breaking for his family, friends and colleagues. pic.twitter.com/jOfPeJkBfQ
— Tim Ryan (@Timothy_F_Ryan) September 7, 2018
If you knew or worked with Botham Jean, please feel free to leave a comment about him below.
Image: Jeff Montgomery, Harding University
I’m sure she feared for her life. Nothing to see here, folks.
Stand Your Ground is a Florida law, not Texas. Although, I’m sure there’s a better than zero percent chance that a white woman cop can get away with killing an unarmed black man using this defense with a Texas jury.
And people wonder why Colin is kneeling… if the cop isn’t found guilty then the system really is broken.
Even if her apartment was being robbed, why would she shoot? She had zero reason to believe she was in any danger.
I wouldn’t say she had “zero” reason to shoot, but yes, you would expect a police officer to be at least a little less cowardly than the average civilian. This is my issue with a lot of these shootings of unarmed citizens. It seems like the cops are so skiddish and even cowardly these days. Shoot first, make up an excuse later.
Cops have to get home safe at the end of their shift, PERIOD!
Slightest hint of danger results in death penalty.
So far it seem like this off duty cop just had a bunch of fuck ups. She was new to the apartment complex, it was late at night, and dark. It seems like this may just be a giant tragedy.
That said, I read elsewhere that the cop has had drug and alcohol tests. She’s coming off a 15 hour shift and maybe just tired (not an excuse for her actions), but if there was more to it, then I hope she burns in hell.
Regardless of what happened or what this cop was thinking, this is a terrible tragedy and any amount of justice brought on the cop will not bring Bo back. Besides for whatever legal and financial penalties this cop faces, she should not be a cop anymore after this.
this does not make much sense