A car of 5 teens were trying to leave a house party late Saturday night, when an officer fired multiple rounds into the car after claiming it was backing up towards officers "in an aggressive manner". In the passenger seat of that car was 15 year old Jordan Edwards, a freshman at Mesquite High School, who later died from his injuries.
In a statement released Sunday, the officers were responding to a call about several drunk teens wandering the neighborhood at around 11 p.m. Saturday night.
However, the shooting/injury is not consistent with the officer's story.
While they claim the car was aggressively backing up towards them in a threatening manner, the officer's bullet did not come from behind the car but instead from the passenger side, shattering the passenger window. Taking all this into consideration, it seems the officer was standing right there, right next to the vehicle, right outside of Jordan's window.
In a Buzzfeed interview with Lee Merritt, he stated none of the teens in the car were facing any charges for underage drinking.
"They heard police were coming and decided to leave the party. No one heard any gunfire until police arrived at the scene," Merritt said. He added that no weapons have been recovered and no one has been arrested.
The criminal investigation will be handled by the Dallas County District Attorney's Office and the Dallas County Sheriff's Department, officials said Sunday. Balch Springs Police Department will also conduct an internal review.
No officers were injured in the incident. Police have not identified the officer involved, but said the officer is now on administrative leave.
Merritt will be holding a press conference with the family at 1 p.m. local time Monday.