A
policeman who killed an unarmed black teenager during a suspected
burglary at a Texas car dealership last week has been fired for “making
decisions that had catastrophic outcomes”, the city’s police chief said.
Arlington
officer Brad Miller, 49, could also face criminal charges once police
complete their investigation, Will Johnson, the police chief, said.
Johnson said Miller caused a deadly confrontation that put him and other officers in danger.
The death
of Christian Taylor, 19, came two days before the anniversary of the
death of Michael Brown, an unarmed, black 18-year-old who was fatally
shot by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri.
Brown’s
death helped spur protests and a nationwide “Black Lives Matter”
movement to demand reforms to how police treat minorities.
Called to
the scene of a suspected burglary early on Friday, Miller pursued the
college footballer through the broken glass doors of a car dealership
showroom without telling his supervising officer, Johnson said.
Instead of
setting up a perimeter around the showroom, Miller confronted Taylor
and ordered him to get down on the ground, Johnson said. Taylor did not
comply. Instead, he began “actively advancing towards Officer Miller,”
Johnson said.
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