Rookie cop is fired for shooting death of unarmed man who rammed car into auto showroom
A rookie police officer in Arlington, Texas, has been fired for alleged “inappropriate judgment” in the fatal shooting of a burglary suspect who had rammed his car through the windows of an auto showroom.
The officer, 49-year-old Brad Miller, shot and killed 19-year-old Christian Taylor early Friday after Taylor cursed and advanced toward the officer, according to Arlington Police Chief Will Johnson. Miller is white and Taylor, a football player at Angelo State University, was black. The New York Times, the Associated Press, the Washington Post and the Dallas Morning News Crime Blog have stories.
Johnson said officers could have assumed that Taylor was armed because he had a bulge in his pocket, which turned out to be a wallet and cell phone. Yet Miller entered the showroom without an arrest plan, Johnson said. Taylor refused an order to get on the ground and advanced toward Miller, according to Johnson’s account. Miller fired his gun and another officer who entered the showroom fired his Taser, Johnson said. Miller then fired three more times, the police chief said.
“This is an extraordinarily difficult case,” Johnson said. “Decisions were made that created an environment of cascading consequences and an unrecoverable outcome.”
Taylor’s father, Adrian Taylor, told the Washington Post that “relieved” would be the wrong word to describe his reaction to Miller’s firing. “We are all human and make mistakes and there isn’t a winner in this. You know what I mean? We are both losers,” Adrian Taylor said.
“Right now I just feel sorry for my family and his family and for the whole nation,” Taylor said. “I just hope it makes a change because this is happening too much.”
Subsequent coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Fired rookie cop wanted to protect others, while police chief wants to protect his job, lawyer says”
