Blasting News reported on the story of Jordan Edwards, 15, who was shot and killed while leaving an end-of-year party last weekend in a Dallas suburb. On Tuesday, 37-year-old Roy Oliver, the police officer who had shot and killed the teen, was fired from his job with the Balch Springs police. Now he is facing a murder charge and was arrested Friday night.

$300,000 bail for Texas cop

According to The New York Times, Oliver handed himself in at the Parker County Jail on Friday, where his bail was set at $300,000. After posting bond for that amount, Oliver was released.

However, if the Texas cop is convicted of murder, he will be facing anything up to a life sentence behind bars.

After a report of underage drinking at the party, two police officers responded to the scene. Oliver, the second of the officers, shot at a car that was about to leave the party. Jordan was seated in the passenger seat of the car, which he shared with four other teens, two of which were his brothers. Jordan was shot in the head by Oliver and died from his injuries. This latest in a string of police shootings of black teenagers caused a nationwide uproar, renewing allegations of attacks of a racial nature by police officers.

Jordan Edward’s parents are grateful the Texas cop has been charged

Lee Merritt, an attorney acting for Jordan’s family, said on Friday that the teenager’s parents are grateful that police investigators are seeking a murder charge in the shooting.

They heard the news just as they are preparing to bury their son on Saturday. According to Merritt, they believed from the very start that the Texas cop should be arrested for murder.

While saying there isn’t a conviction as yet, Merritt did say this gives the appearance that the state isn’t going to sweep the incident under a rug as had happened in previous cases.

He added there is still quite a way to go.

The arrest warrant states that Oliver committed the offense while intending to cause serious bodily harm and that the act clearly endangered human life.

According to Balch Springs police, they were not aware of the warrant until they read about it in the Dallas Morning News. A written statement by the police department said they were not contacted by the Dallas County Sheriff’s Office or District Attorney’s Office regarding the warrant.

The previous gun-related scandal involving the Texas cop

It turns out this isn’t the first incident involving Oliver. According to the Dallas News, two weeks prior to the shooting incident, Oliver’s truck was rear-ended in South Cockrell Hill Road in Dallas.

Oliver was reportedly off-duty at the time of the incident.

According to 26-year-old Monique Arredondo, the owner of the other vehicle involved in the crash, she had just put her car into park and Oliver was already out of the truck and at her window when he pulled the gun on her. She said he was dressed in plain clothes and demanded she shows him her driver’s license. Arredondo told him he needed to put his gun away as there was no need for a gun to be pointed in her face. She added that her 13-year-old sister was in the car and was crying.

However, by the time Dallas police arrived at the scene, Oliver had holstered his weapon, and his police badge was clipped to his belt. According to Dallas police spokeswoman, Debra Webb, Oliver told the officers he believed the “other individual” may have been reaching for a gun or about to flee.

Webb added that the officers determined that no offense had occurred.

Jordan is the youngest killed by U.S. police this year

According to a report by the Washington Post, 339 people have been shot and killed by police officers in the U.S. so far this year. That report states that Jordan is the youngest so far. The report went on to quote statistics of the police shooting, saying in 2016, 963 died from officer-related shootings, while in 2015, the total was 991.
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