Officer convicted of murder in police shooting

In a rare guilty verdict in a police shooting case, Dallas County jurors on Tuesday convicted a former Balch Springs, Texas, police officer of murder in the death of an African-American teenager. Roy Oliver, who is white, and his partner were responding to a report of underage drinking at a house party in suburban Dallas in April 2017 when Oliver fired into a car of teenagers, killing 15-year-old Jordan Edwards. Oliver said he was protecting his partner, but his partner told jurors he did not fear for his life. Police initially said the vehicle carrying Edwards and his friends backed up toward officers “in an aggressive manner,” but bodycam video showed the vehicle was moving forward as officers approached. Oliver faces between five and 99 years in prison, according to an Edwards family attorney.

Since 2005, only six nonfederal police officers have been convicted of murder in similar cases, and four of those convictions were overturned, according to Bowling Green State University professor Phil Stinson.