The details are sketchy and frankly something seems off about the entire situation.
Christian Taylor a defensive back at Angelo State University was unarmed when he was shot by an Arlington cop who was still in training.
Here is the story from Dallas Morning News.
Officer Brad Miller shot and killed 19-year-old Christian Taylor after officers responded to a burglary in progress about 1 a.m. at the Classic Buick GMC near Interstate 20 and Collins Street, police said. Taylor was unarmed, police said.
The dealership’s security company reported the burglary when its cameras recorded a man at the dealership, police said. The suspect drove a SUV through the dealership showroom’s glass doors, Sgt. Paul Rodriguez said.
When police arrived they found the man in the dealership’s showroom and approached him. Miller shot Taylor after an “altercation,” police said. Taylor died at the scene, according to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s office.
Prior to joining the department Miller had no police experience. At the time of the shooting he was in field training and under the supervision of a police training officer.
Taylor was a defensive back on the Angelo State University football team, according to the team’s roster. He was recruited to play there after graduating from Mansfield Summit High School in 2014.
Something not adding up.
First, if you are going to steal a car driving through the showroom isn’t the best way to go about it, even if it was at 1am. Wouldn’t it make more sense to try to sneak in? Was Taylor on drugs or maybe did he lost control of his car and smashed into the dealership on accident? . Secondly, it is being called an altercation and more than one cop was at the scene, so even if he was trying to rob the place that doesn’t justify shooting him. Are you telling me an unarmed 19-year-old posed a threat to multiple cops to the point one cop had to shoot him? How bad was the altercation if he didn’t have a weapon?
The Arlington cops don’t wear body cams (every cop in America should), but there is footage from the dealership that hopefully will clear up things. When you kill someone, they don’t get to tell their side of the story can only prime the footage isn’t tampered with and gives a good idea of what happened before the fatal shot.
When people commit crimes they should go to jail, the only time they should be shot is if they have a gun themselves, there is no reason for unarmed people black, white or otherwise to continually be murdered by cops.
I hope the truth about this comes out, but sadly I think you know a cover up is coming. Training officer Miller has been placed on paid leave.