TX - Botham Shem Jean, 26, killed when police officer entered wrong apartment, Dallas, Sept 2018

[Bill Carson]

Touché. That does seem to be the MO for any officer involved anything when there’s a grand jury. She will no doubt be suspended WITH pay for a while then resign, then they’ll make excuses and tie it all up with a reasonable doubt bow. What a travesty. I grew up in Searcy, Arkansas and Harding is a very religious, no-nonsense, private and super pricey. It’s the Church of Christ Capitol. Ive read up on him some and even though I’m not religious, his passion and charm would have changed lives. Fly high, Bothom.

I attended Harding for two years a long time ago. It's really not very expensive for a private university. The "list" price, including tuition, room & board (all unmarried undergrads are required to live on campus), books, and supplies is $29,975 per year. Compare that to a similar Church of Christ college--Abilene Christian University--which has a list price of $48,300, Baylor University--a Baptist private college---at $60,413, or the University of Arkansas (in-state, on campus) at $24,916.

(When I attended Harding, the cost of attendance was $5,200 per year---that's how long ago it was.)

 

[Jennifer17]

Good answer.

Is Fox News reporting this?

 

[imstilla.grandma]

It’s a key card entry system like a hotel. Did he leave his deadbolt engaged to hold the door ajar (which she knew she would never do) bc a girl was stopping by? She could freak out with her weapon up, her adrenals pumping, maybe she sees dude shoes or wallet on the bar? Their bars might be identicle. So then he is up and investigating and boom..? Possible. Did she lose her key and go ask the doorman for a copy and it was programmed to his #, but then why did she also choose the wrong door? Too much a chance and coeincidence in that IMO. Was he maybe sleeping and when he heard an intruder he ran at the darkly dressed shadow with a golf club and she reacted? I’m dying to know.

All good questions.

 

[Rocco]

I wonder about the arrest protocol. If it had been an officer-involved shooting (if she had been on duty), then the police officer has the right to see all of the body camera and dashboard camera video before they are required to give a statement. I think they get to wait a few days to calm down, and they have an opportunity to speak with a police union lawyer or representative before they give a statement, too.

I'd be dollars to donuts that the Dallas DA will take this case to the grand jury, and the officer will be no-billed, and they will announce this tragedy was the result of a very unfortunate accident.

I'll take you up on that bet. I bet she's charged, tried, and convicted.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Is Fox News reporting this?

The Dallas police chief says it remains unclear whether there were any words exchanged or any other interaction between a police officer and her neighbor before she fatally shot him in his home.
...
The chief declined to speculate as to whether fatigue or other factors, including race, may have contributed to the shooting. The officer is white and Jean was black.

The Latest: Unclear if words exchanged prior to shooting

 

[Bill Carson]

All good questions.

A Balch Springs Police Officer was convicted of murder just last week, so you may be right. The odds though.....

 

[StrangeOne]

Is it possible they knew each other?

 

[Amonet]

I was thinking some more about it. I thought maybe she used the keypad and maybe they had the same number and the door opened for her?

The "open up" could have been the attending officers if she gave her correct address and they went to her apartment instead of Mr Jean's apartment, and they'd find her apartment locked and no one home?

I live in apartments and my neighbor has the exact same layout as mine, but even with my eyes closed I'd know her place isn't mine as I have tiled entrance hall and she has carpet. With my eyes open, even in dim light I'd know it wasn't mine as we have different color schemes, different soft furnishings, different furniture in different places.. I have a computer desk in a place where she has a chair. Even with the walls and doors in the same places, there are still so many differences.

I don't want to think the worst here. It can't imagine how awful it would be to kill an innocent person by a genuine accident.

If a person wanted to kill someone there are better ways to arrange it to look like an accident or self defense than this...and I suspect that of happening in one or two cases I've heard of.

None of this makes any sense and an innocent person's been killed in their own home for no reason...it's a tragedy.

 

[Rocco]

The Dallas police chief says it remains unclear whether there were any words exchanged or any other interaction between a police officer and her neighbor before she fatally shot him in his home.
...
The chief declined to speculate as to whether fatigue or other factors, including race, may have contributed to the shooting. The officer is white and Jean was black.

The Latest: Unclear if words exchanged prior to shooting

I would hope there would have been some words exchanged or some other interaction before she shot and killed him. Don't tell me she gained access to what she thought was her apt and just shot him!!! The problem is, we'll never know. We'll only know what SHE says happened.

Maybe there is a witness, someone in the hall or another apt who heard something, and we haven't heard about them yet.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

A Balch Springs Police Officer was convicted of murder just last week, so you may be right. The odds though.....

Stranger things have happened...
it’s still in wait and see mode, so we’ll see what happens as the days go on. I like facts.

 

[Jennifer17]

Stranger things have happened...
it’s still in wait and see mode, so we’ll see what happens as the days go on. I like facts.

You like facts? The facts are that a black male answered the door because a white police officer was trying to get into his house and she killed him.Those are the facts. He was a black scary man and answering his own door bell and being killed.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

"How can you make a mistake like that, getting into someone else's apartment?" said 80-year-old Raquel, who has lived in the complex for less than a year. "Don't they train police?"

The woman, who said she never gives out her last name, said she'd think twice when calling the police after this experience.

"Now if something happens to me," she said, "I'm going to be too scared to call police because I'm afraid it will end in a tragedy."

This updated article has witnesses speaking.
Dallas officer faces manslaughter charge for shooting man in apartment she thought was hers, police chief says | Crime | Dallas News

 

[imstilla.grandma]

You like facts? The facts are that a black male answered the door because a white police officer was trying to get into his house and she killed him.Those are the facts. He was a black scary man and answering his own door bell and being killed.

I’ll go with all of it but the scary. Define ‘scary’ as in your own personal subjective dictionary.

 

[MsFacetious]

From what has been reported, she tried to use a key, he then opened the door (presumably he heard her trying to use the keys) and then she shot him at some point thereafter.

Wow. I would not open the door if a single cop yelled that from outside. Not unless they had a warrant.

Assuming that's accurate eyewitness testimony (and it might not be), if she went up to what he believed to be her apartment, and realized there was somebody there, she would have thought that person broke in. So screaming "open up" in that situation would make sense.

Not really. If it's YOUR apartment, open it yourself! Or, call for back up and wait! It's a upper floor apartment so I'm guessing there isn't another way out of it. What's the guy going to do? Jump out the window?

She has to scream 'open up' at what she says she believes was her own apartment? Did she not wonder why her key did not work? She immediately assumes that a man who opens the door to her is burgling her apartment? What burglar answers the door?

Yes. Exactly.
Serious lack of common sense and thought involved here.

Yeah, if she actually said that, it makes her story later make even less sense. If she yelled "Open up!" why shoot him when he opened the door??

Also a good point! If you order the guy to do something why shoot him when he complies?! If he was actually in his underwear she isn't going to be able to claim she thought he had a weapon.

The Heavy article quoted a neighbor of Bothom's as saying that he had a rug in the hallway in front of his door. Like a door mat. How could she have mistaken that as her apartment?

And yes, if she suspected an intruder in her own apartment, she should have retreated and called for backup.

I think she acted without thinking, period. It just doesn't make sense otherwise.


<modsnip>

I would hope there would have been some words exchanged or some other interaction before she shot and killed him. Don't tell me she gained access to what she thought was her apt and just shot him!!! The problem is, we'll never know. We'll only know what SHE says happened.

Maybe there is a witness, someone in the hall or another apt who heard something, and we haven't heard about them yet.

I am hoping that there are... but I'm guessing none SAW anything.... so it's still going to be difficult to prove what they heard.

"How can you make a mistake like that, getting into someone else's apartment?" said 80-year-old Raquel, who has lived in the complex for less than a year. "Don't they train police?"

The woman, who said she never gives out her last name, said she'd think twice when calling the police after this experience.

"Now if something happens to me," she said, "I'm going to be too scared to call police because I'm afraid it will end in a tragedy."

This updated article has witnesses speaking.
Dallas officer faces manslaughter charge for shooting man in apartment she thought was hers, police chief says | Crime | Dallas News

I've been afraid to call them for at least 10 years now.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Authorities have not said how the officer got into Jean's home, or whether his door was open or unlocked. The apartment complex is just a few blocks from Dallas police headquarters.

Residents of the complex said they can access their units with a key or through a keypad code.

Jeffrey Scherzer, who lives there, said when he returned home after the shooting, an officer escorted him to his apartment and warned him to steer clear of a blood trail.

Two women who live on the second floor near where the shooting happened said they heard a lot of noise late Thursday.

"It was, like, police talk: 'Open up! Open up!'" Caitlin Simpson, 20, told The Dallas Morning News.

Yazmine Hernandez, 20, was studying with Simpson when they heard the commotion.

"We heard cops yelling, but otherwise had no idea what was going on," Hernandez said.

Attorney Lee Merritt, who has been involved with high-profile cases in North Texas, said Friday the officer should have already been arrested, like any other person in a similar situation.
Dallas officer in wrong apartment fatally shoots neighbor

 

[Bill Carson]

I think she acted without thinking, period. It just doesn't make sense otherwise.

SBM

Or she was drunk.

 

[MsFacetious]

The officer who shot Jean is white, and Jean said she wondered whether the outcome would have been different if her son hadn't been black.

"I don't want to judge her. We are Christians. We forgive," she said. "But I need to look into her eyes and ask her why did she do that to my son.

"She took away my heart. My soul. He didn't deserve to die."

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As of late Friday, authorities had yet to fully explain how the situation escalated to the shooting, declining to comment on whether the officer mistook Jean for an intruder.

"I won't go into that information right now," said Sgt. Warren Mitchell, a police spokesman. "We have not interviewed her. ... We still have a lot to do in this investigation."

Officials said that after the officer reported that Jean was wounded, other police arrived within four minutes and administered first aid.

Dallas officer faces manslaughter charge for shooting man in apartment she thought was hers, police chief says | Crime | Dallas News

 

[MsFacetious]

SBM

Or she was drunk.

I would HOPE she would not have been since she'd just arrived home from her shift. Also would hope if she was inebriated they would have arrested her! Ugh. Probably hoping for too much here.

 

[Rocco]

Authorities have not said how the officer got into Jean's home, or whether his door was open or unlocked. The apartment complex is just a few blocks from Dallas police headquarters.

Residents of the complex said they can access their units with a key or through a keypad code.

Jeffrey Scherzer, who lives there, said when he returned home after the shooting, an officer escorted him to his apartment and warned him to steer clear of a blood trail.

Two women who live on the second floor near where the shooting happened said they heard a lot of noise late Thursday.

"It was, like, police talk: 'Open up! Open up!'" Caitlin Simpson, 20, told The Dallas Morning News.

Yazmine Hernandez, 20, was studying with Simpson when they heard the commotion.

"We heard cops yelling, but otherwise had no idea what was going on," Hernandez said.

Attorney Lee Merritt, who has been involved with high-profile cases in North Texas, said Friday the officer should have already been arrested, like any other person in a similar situation.
Dallas officer in wrong apartment fatally shoots neighbor

I agree with that attorney. She should have been arrested already just like any other person in a similar situation. She wasn't acting in the capacity of a police officer when she shot him. She was an armed intruder in someone else's home and she shot and killed the homeowner.

Lock her up.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

SBM

Or she was drunk.

At work? I sure hope not. If so, that’s gonna say a hell of a lot. Don’t hold my feet to the fire yet; but I think I read an article saying she walked home from work in uniform. I saw another article showing the google map of the distance between the PD and her apt. It wasn’t far.