A Dallas police officer, who shot an unarmed man in his own apartment after mistaking the apartment for hers, has been arrested and charged with manslaughter.
Texas Rangers announced Monday that Amber Guyger was taken into custody on Sunday, and then released on $300,000 bond. An investigation into the events that led up to the shooting, which took the life of Botham Shem Jean, is ongoing.
Dallas County District Attorney Faith Johnson told a press conference Monday that the evidence supported a manslaughter charge, but that she may take the case to a grand jury for further examination.
Botham Jean was at home in Dallas when Guyger entered his apartment, believing it to be hers. After an “interaction,” Guyger fired her service weapon, hitting Jean. She reported the shooting to 911 dispatchers and allegedly admitted that she’d mistaken Jean’s apartment for her own. Jean died of his wounds later at a local hospital.
“A female Dallas police officer returned to what she believed to be her apartment after her shift ended — she was still in uniform when she encountered Mr. Jean inside the apartment,” the Dallas Police Chief told CNN last week, adding that details surrounding the incident were murky and that police were still investigating “the interaction … between her and the victim. Then at some point she fired her weapon striking the victim.”
The case made national headlines, particularly after Dallas law enforcement refused to take Guyger into immediate custody.