Texas police officer faces murder charge in teen’s death

DALLAS — A white Texas police officer has been charged with murder in the shooting of a black teenager for which the officer was fired, according to an arrest warrant issued Friday.

The warrant for Roy Oliver, a former officer in the Dallas suburb of Balch Springs, was issued by the Dallas County Sheriff’s Office for the April 29 shooting death of 15-year-old Jordan Edwards. He turned himself in Friday night at the Parker County Jail in Weatherford, Texas, and his bond was set at $300,000.

In a statement it released Friday evening announcing the warrant, the sheriff’s office cited evidence that suggested Oliver “intended to cause serious bodily injury and commit an act clearly dangerous to human life that caused the death.”

Oliver fired a rifle at a car full of teenagers leaving a party, fatally shooting Edwards. The teen’s death led to protests calling for Oliver to be fired and charged. On Tuesday, the same day that the officer was fired, news broke of the Justice Department’s decision not to charge two white police officers in Baton Rouge, La., in the shooting death of a black man in 2016. And a white officer in North Charleston, S.C., pleaded guilty that day to federal civil rights charges in the fatal shooting of a black man in 2015.

Edwards and his two brothers and two other teenagers were driving away from an unruly house party in Balch Springs late Saturday night when Oliver opened fire on their vehicle with a rifle. The bullets shattered the front passenger-side window and struck Edwards. Oliver’s firing Tuesday was for violating department policies in the shooting.

It took a few moments for Edwards’ 16-year-old brother, who was driving, and other passengers to notice that he was slumped over in his seat.

The investigation into the shooting “will continue and does not conclude with the arrest,” sheriff’s spokeswoman Melinda Urbina said.

Oliver’s attorney, Cindy Stormer, didn’t immediately return messages seeking comment. The attorney for the teen’s family, Lee Merritt, said he would issue a statement later Friday.

Records show that Oliver was briefly suspended in 2013 following a complaint about his conduct while serving as a witness in a drunken-driving case.

Oliver was ordered to take training courses in anger management and courtroom demeanor and testimony.