Texas Cop Kills Teen in Car Police Falsely Claimed Was Backing Up in 'Aggressive Manner'

Police chief says body cam footage showed car moving away from cops and not being driven aggressively.

Mesquite Independent School District

A Balch Springs, Texas, police officer who has not been identified shot and killed 15-year-old Jordan Edwards, who was the passenger in a car police initially insisted was backing down the road toward them "in an aggressive manner," before the police chief contradicted that account, saying the car was driving away from police when the officer shot at it, and was not being driven aggressively.

"It did not meet our core values," Jonathan Haber said, according to DallasNews.com.

Police were responding to a 911 call about "underage kids drunk walking around," according to NBC News.

The officers responsibile for the initial false narrative did not explain why they could not move out of the way. They also said they heard gun shots before the shooting. An attorney for the Edwards family said the surviving teems had heard gun shots at the party to which police were called, and left the home and went to their car because of that.

At a press conference the family attorney, Lee Merritt, insisted the teenagers in the car were not drinking and said they were not being charged with anything nor were they the reason police were called. He said the police account of the event would not hold up to scrutiny, and disputed the idea the car was backing up "in an aggressive manner." The police chief's statement, which came after Merritt's press conference, bear that out.

A medical examiner ruled Edwards' death a homicide, but as DallasNews.com explains, that doesn't necessarily mean anyone will be charged in the killing—the shooting is being investigated by the Dallas County Sheriff's Department and the district attorney's office. Merritt said he hoped the investigation would be impartial because it was not being conducted by the local police department.

Merritt pre-emptively dismissed attempts to smear Edwards' character, saying he was a straight-A student. "We've heard excuses before in the past: You know why it happens, because the dads aren't present," Merritt said, according to DallasNews.com "That excuse isn't here. Or the kid was violent. That excuse isn't present here."

The high school the ninth grade boy attended, Mesquite High School, said it was postponing a biology exam scheduled for today and had extra counselors on duty at the school.

Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

It did not meet our core values...

Don't sugarcoat it for us.

[KerryW]

That's right, you're supposed to disable the cameras before doing something like that.

[Fist of Etiquette]

...and had extra counselors on duty at the school.

I don't think it's right to make the police officers go to the school for counseling. Haven't they been through enough trauma already?

I'm going to knee jerk this for a minute, and wonder aloud what kind of professional culture exists where a) police officers feel it is permissible to react to just about any situation with deadly force, and b) how little adequate supervision or training exists in an environment where deadly force is an option for it to be used so carelessly. The casual disregard for human life that it would take to effectively blindly discharge your weapon- and I'm using blindly as the best case scenario, mind you, because otherwise you've identified your target as a child and unarmed and not in control of the vehicle you're claiming is a threat.

[IceTrey]

Well it takes twice as many hours of training to be a cosmologist as a cop.

[sarcasmic]

Police do not enforce the law. That is a myth. Their job is to enforce compliance. To make people do whatever they say. That means using deadly force when other methods fail. Not in self defense, but as punishment for failure to obey. Failing to resort to deadly force on someone who fails to obey is one of the few things that can get a cop fired.

[Philadelphia Collins]

So, resist. If enough of us get killed something will change.

[dantheserene]

And you'll be right behind us, every step of the way?

[Philadelphia Collins]

No, I pick my battles.

[junyo]

No, when someone gets killed, it'll be pointed out how they weren't a member of your tribe, and therefore a) deserved it, or b) since other members of that tribe have done things that were distasteful if means you shouldn't care. If that doesn't work it'll be pointed out how some of the people complaining about it are complaining about it in the wrong way or using the wrong points, and therefore you shouldn't care.

And thus they can kill as many people as they want, and by and large, no one will care.

[Philadelphia Collins]

Or, C., they suffer from O.D.D. - oppositional defiant disorder, and suffer a lot of avoidable grief.

[simplybe]

Someone finally gets it. Wish the rest of the country could see as clearly

[SQRLSY One]

I think that you are looking at me in an aggressive manner, so I am gonna HAVE TO shoot you! You leave me no choice! Ossifer safety first!

[Scarecrow Repair & Chippering]

Merritt said he hoped the investigation would be impartial because it was not being conducted by the local police department.

Even police can has a laugh now and then, right?

[Fascist loofa-faced shitgibbon]

What's that, Martha?
No it's nothing important.
Just Ed punching me in the nuts.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

Hey, look at the upside. The media will give a shit on this one.

[SIV]

The deceased's got Black Privilege

[No Yards Penalty]

Your link to the Federalist is broken, HIV.

[Chipper Mourning LackOfSerifs]

Goddammit, my nuts are getting really sore from all these direct hits. RIP, innocent kid.

[Philadelphia Collins]

He resisted. Always resist. No lives matter.

[Philadelphia Collins]

He resisted. Always resist. No lives matter.

[Agile Cyborg]

Fucking night-crawlers have no business squirming around with Baby Eagles.

[simplybe]

Government officials better get law enforcement under control before there is a full blown revolution in this country. This implied immunity that cops hide behind is wearing real thin. Police deaths in this country are at historical lows yet police are receiving military training and instilled with the belief that everyone they meet is possibly an enemy combatant. The last I checked cops are the only ones openly armed. I realize that most cops are decent people but when their departments don't prosecute bad cops for shooting someone for speeding, raping or groping teenage girls or stealing people's money under civil assest forfeiture then they are head for some every serious blowback

[DanO.]

a full blown revolution

hahahaha

[Cynical Asshole]

A Balch Springs, Tex., police officer who has not been identified shot and killed 15-year-old Jordan Edwards, who was the passenger in a car police initially insisted was backing down the road toward them "in an aggressive manner," before the police chief contradicted that account, saying the car was driving away from police when the officer shot at it, and was not being driven aggressively.

So, the cops responsible for the shooting and subsequently lying about it have been fired, right?

BWAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!1!!!!11!!!!!!

[TO in TX]

Local news is all over this. Tragic and stupid. By all accounts this was a really good kid. I am optimistic the killer will be fired, and likely brought up on manslaughter charges. I hope, hope I am not wrong.