A white police officer fatally shot a black man in his own home after she entered the flat and thought it was hers, it is claimed.
Officer Amber Guyger, who was off duty, could be charged with manslaughter in the death of 26-year-old accountant Botham Jean.
Guyger, 30, was returning home from a 12-hour shift – in uniform and armed with her service handgun – when she mistook Mr Jean’s apartment for her own, police in Dallas, Texas, said.
Thursday night’s shooting happened about 18 months after she shot a man in the abdomen after he disarmed her Taser during a struggle.
Later, paramedics are seen trying to revive Mr. Jean as they wheel him out of the flat on a stretcher while surrounded by police officers.
Guyger, a Dallas police officer for four years, told officers responding to the shooting that she entered the man’s apartment believing that it was her own, a police statement said.
She had just moved into the building about a month ago, it was reported.
She is being independently investigated by the Texas Rangers, who have asked police to hold off on a planned manslaughter arrest warrant until the probe is carried out, said police Chief Renee Hall.
As part of the investigation, police took a blood sample from Guyger to test it for alcohol and drugs.
Guyger has been placed on administrative leave.
In May 2017, she shot a man named Uvaldo Perez, who took her Taser during a struggle. She was not charged following that incident, the Dallas Morning News reported.
Perez, 47, was later jailed for two years after admitting to taking the weapon, possessing drugs and violating his parole conditions. Read more