"As a result of the initial investigation conducted by the Texas Rangers, and a subsequent coordination with the Dallas County District Attorney's Office, a warrant for the offense of manslaughter was issued from the 7th District Court in Dallas County," the law enforcement agency said in a statement. "Today Amber Guyger, 30, was arrested in Kaufman County and booked into the Kaufman County Jail. The investigation is ongoing and no additional information is available at this time."
Thursday night, Guyger shot and killed Jean in Jean's apartment. According to Dallas Police Chief U. Renee Hall, she did so after trying to get into the apartment, believing it was her own, at the end of her shift.
Guyger was in uniform at the time of the killing and shot Jean with her service weapon. As DPD sought a warrant for Guyger on Friday, Hall asked the Rangers to take over the investigation, the chief revealed Saturday. After taking over for DPD, the state agency interviewed Guyger. After doing so they asked Hall to withdraw her request for a warrant, according to the chief.
Saturday evening and throughout the day Sunday, Dallas civil rights attorney Lee Merritt, who is representing the interests of the Jean family during the investigation, pushed for Guyger's arrest. Sunday night, he said at a press conference, he provided Dallas County District Attorney Faith Johnson with a new witness in the case, one who Merritt said disputes the public narrative of what happened Thursday night. Merritt declined to say what information the witness has or provided, because he didn't want to compromise the investigation.
ORIGINAL STORY: Dallas police late Saturday said Amber Guyger is the officer who shot Botham Shem Jean.
DPD's announcement came after an attorney representing Jean's family named Guyger, 30, as the off-duty cop who shot and killed Jean on Thursday night.
Lee Merritt posted Guyger's name in a tweet Saturday afternoon. At a press conference later Saturday, he said he believed the officer's name had been officially released. He later found out it hadn't, Merritt said, so he did not name Guyger again at the press conference. His tweet, however, has not been deleted.
Our office has been retained to represent the estate of #BothamShemJean. Our first & foremost priority will be to ensure justice is served for this family. That includes holding Amber Guyger accountable for her crimes as well as ID’ing all responsible for enabling this incident. pic.twitter.com/p9tJAiJZOi
— S. Lee Merritt, Esq. (@MeritLaw) September 8, 2018
Guyger entered Jean's apartment believing it was her own after completing her shift, according to police. She then shot the Saint Lucia native in the chest, killing him.
Jean's family did not speak at the press conference. Merritt called on the Dallas County District Attorney's Office to issue a warrant for Guyger.
"If there is probable cause that a crime has been committed in this jurisdiction, it is incumbent on law enforcement, and particularly the district attorney's office, to issue a warrant for the arrest of the officer involved," Merritt said. "This family is frustrated. This family is upset. This family is grieving that that has not happened yet."
A portrait of Botham Shem Jean posted on Facebook by his uncle Earl Jean. "How can this nasty world take you away from me," Earl Jean writes.
courtesy Facebook
Guyger previously shot a Pleasant Grove man in 2017.
In May 2017, Guyger and another officer responded to the 8300 block of Reva Street in Pleasant Grove after undercover officers reported a woman they believed to be wanted by DPD sitting in the front passenger seat of a car. A man, the undercover officers reported, was in the driver's seat, and another man was in the back seat. As officers on the scene tried to figure out who the woman was, the man in the back seat got out, defying orders to stay in the car.
The man, later identified as Uvaldo Perez, 46, took Guyger's Taser. Guyger then shot Perez. Perez survived, and a Dallas County grand jury declined to indict Guyger.
DPD hired Guyger, a patrol officer, in November 2013. She was assigned to the Southeast Patrol Division.
