Subscribe
NewsOne Featured Video
CLOSE

UPDATED: 9:16 a.m. EDT, Sept. 11 — The narrative surrounding the white police officer in Dallas who shot and killed a Black man in his own home has taken a number of twists and turns since Botham Shem Jean died Thursday night. The one consistency throughout it all is that the that Officer Amber Guyger’s story has reportedly been inconsistent.

The first reports were that Guyger said her fob key didn’t work on the lock and that after Jean opened the door, she shot and killed him. But after a couple of days of not being arrested and perhaps colluding with police to massage her alibi, it was reported that Jean’s door was actually unlocked.

It was later reported Monday that the police affidavit seemed to imply that Guyger was blaming Jean for not obeying “her verbal commands” before she fired twice at “a large silhouette” (who just happened to be in his own home).

Later in the day, lawyers for Jean’s family lawyers said they have witnesses contradicting what Guyger said happened.

 

UPDATED: 10:45 a.m. EDT, Sept. 10 — The white police officer in Dallas who shot and killed a Black man in his own apartment on Friday was finally arrested more than two days later.

Amber Guyger was arrested and charged with manslaughter on Sunday night in a case that the family of Botham Shem Jean, who was shot and killed, said deserved a murder charge. Guyger was later freed on bond.

The rumor that Guyger and Jean may have been romantically involved was reportedly disproven.

 

Original story:

 

Officials were still concealing the identity of the police officer accused of mistakenly entering a Dallas apartment on Friday and killing the Black man who lived there. But social media users were apparently on the case, seemingly revealing the name of and other information about the off-duty cop whose purported blunder of confusing her apartment for the one belonging to Botham Shem Jean just didn’t seem to add up.

Amber Guyger, or Amy Gyger, allegedly had some type of relationship with Jean, 26, before he reportedly opened the door she was trying to force her way into and shot him dead on the spot, according to hundreds of tweets as of Saturday morning.

Details were sparse and it was unclear why the Dallas police department remained so silent; unless, of course, it was trying to massage the implausible narrative it was trying to push surrounding the suspicious shooting.

Journalist and social media activist Shaun King tweeted Friday afternoon about what police said led to the shooting.

When Jean reportedly opened the door, the officer fired her gun immediately and killed him.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BndFkJggecr/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

A warrant for the woman’s arrest was reportedly set to be issued, but there was no confirmation that either of those things had happened as of Friday night.

The only information online about Guyger, or Gyger, pertains to a shooting she was involved in last year. At the time of the May 12, 2017, shooting, she had been a member of the Dallas police force for three years and six months, according to the department’s press release about the incident.

Several photos purportedly of her have emerged on social media, including one of her smiling alongside a tattooed white man holding up what appeared to be white Power symbols with both hands.

An Instagram page bearing the name Amber Guyger only had three photos and two videos, but it didn’t seem official. The video footage was supposed to be filmed by one of Jean’s neighbors in the immediate aftermath of the shooting, purportedly showing the officer pacing nervously on the landing one floor above.

Dallas police issued a brief statement on Friday about the tragedy.

“It’s not clear what the interaction was between her and the victim,” the statement said in part. “Therefore, we have ceased handling it under our normal officer involved shooting protocol, a blood sample was drawn to test for drugs and alcohol, we are in the process of obtaining a warrant, and we have also invited the Texas Rangers to conduct an independent investigation.”

Jean’s mother was incredulous when hearing the news that her son had been gunned down by a police officer in his own home.

“Somebody has to be crazy not to realize that they walked into the wrong apartment,” Allison Jean, who lives in the family’s native St. Lucia, told NBC News. “He’s a bachelor. Things are different inside.”

CORRECTION: 10:45 a.m. EDT, Sept. 10 — This story has been updated to remove a tweet with images referring to Amber Guyger, the Dallas police officer who shot and killed a Black man in his own apartment on Friday.

SEE ALSO:

Mac Miller Said He Didn’t ‘Want To Be Depressed’ A Month Before His Apparent Overdose Death

From Kamala Harris To Stacey Abrams: How Black Woman Are Saving Democracy

147 Black Men And Boys Killed By Police
Police killings 2020
146 photos