Dallas officer charged with murder in shooting

A grand jury on Friday indicted a former Dallas police officer for murder in the killing of her unarmed black neighbor in his apartment. Amber Guyger, who is white, was arrested on a manslaughter charge three days after the Sept. 6 shooting of her upstairs neighbor, Botham Jean, a 26-year-old who worked for the accounting and consulting firm PwC. Guyger told investigators that after finishing her shift, she returned home in her uniform and parked on the fourth floor of her apartment complex’s garage, rather than the third floor, where her unit was located. She said she got to what she thought was her apartment and found the door ajar. She opened it to find a figure standing in the darkness and pulled her gun and fired twice after the person ignored her commands.

Guyger has since been fired from the department, and Jean’s family has filed a lawsuit against her and the city of Dallas. Responding to criticism that the original manslaughter charge was too lenient, Dallas County District Attorney Faith Johnson said the grand jury could decide on the more serious charge of murder, which it did.