A white Dallas police officer who shot and killed a black man in his home has been charged with manslaughter.
Amber Guyger, 30, was arrested Sunday — three days after the fatal shooting of 26-year-old Botham Jean. She was booked into the Kaufman County Jail at 7:20 p.m. with bail set at $300,000. She was no longer listed in jail records by 8:30 p.m.
According to police, Guyger returned home in her uniform Thursday after her shift. She called dispatch to report that she had shot Jean, and she later told the officers who responded that she believed his apartment at South Side Flats was her own when she entered it.
Many questions remain about what led Guyger to shoot Jean. Dallas Police Chief U. Renee Hall said the officer's blood was drawn at the scene so that it could be tested for alcohol and drugs. Investigators haven't released the results of those tests.
The Texas Rangers, the top criminal investigative agency in the state, are independently conducting the ongoing investigation of the shooting.
On Friday, Hall said the department was seeking manslaugter charges against Guyger. But on Saturday, Hall said the Rangers told her to wait because they had learned new information and wanted to investigate further before issuing a warrant.
S. Lee Merritt, who is representing the Jean family, said Saturday that the family isn't calling on the authorities to jump to conclusions or to deny Guyger her right to due process. But Merritt said they want Guyger "to be treated like every other citizen, and where there is evidence that they've committed a crime, that there's a warrant to be issued and an arrest to be made."
Guyger's been with the Dallas Police Department for four years assigned to the Southeast Patrol Division. She was publicly identified by police Saturday night.
Jean, a native of the Caribbean island nation of St. Lucia, attended Harding University in Arkansas and, after graduating in 2016, he had been living and working in Dallas at accounting and consulting firm PwC. He was taken to a hospital, where he died.
Jean wasn't the first person shot by Guyger. She shot another man, Uvaldo Perez, in May 2017, while she was on duty. She was not charged.
Dallas mayor issues statement
Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings issued a statement Sunday night: "I want to thank the Texas Rangers for thoroughly investigating this tragic case from the moment the Dallas Police Department requested that they take over on Friday morning,” he said.
Rawlings continued: “I am grateful to Dallas Police Chief Renee Hall for her leadership and foresight in calling for the Rangers to handle the investigation to ensure there was no appearance of bias. I also greatly appreciate that our citizens and community leaders were so respectful of the investigative process over these past few days. Please continue to pray for the family of Botham Jean tonight and in the weeks and months ahead."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
