An unarmed 19-year-old college football player was shot and killed by police in Arlington, Texas, after the young man’s car allegedly crashed through the front window of a car dealership.
Christian Taylor was a defensive back on the Angelo State University football team.
According to police, officers were called to respond to a burglary around 1 a.m. Friday morning when they found that someone had crashed a car through the front of Classic Buick GMC in Arlington. Police say they approached the suspect, Taylor, and a struggle ensued. During the struggle, an officer shot Taylor.
The officer who shot Taylor, Brad Miller, has been on the force since September of last year and has no prior law enforcement experience. He was placed on administrative leave while an investigation is conducted.
The case has caused a firestorm on social media, with some questioning the official account that Taylor was committing a robbery and wondering why there was no video of the altercation. By Friday evening, #ChristianTaylor was trending on Twitter.
Taylor’s great uncle, Clyde Fuller, described his nephew as “a good kid,” and added:
“They say he’s burglarizing the place by running up in there? Nuh-uh. Something doesn’t sound right.”
Court records obtained by a local newspaper show that Taylor was sentenced to six months of deferred adjudication last December on a drug charge which stemmed from a September 2013 traffic stop in which police alleged Taylor was found with 11 hydrocodone tablets not prescribed to him. The case was dismissed on July 14 when Taylor satisfied the requirements of his probation.
Angelo State University spokeswoman Becky Brackin commented:
“We’re not familiar with any of the details because it happened away from here, but we’d just like people to know that we are sad and sorry for his family and friends.”
In a Twitter posting, head football coach Will Wagner simply said:
“Heart is hurting.”
This article was originally published by the same author at LiberalAmerica.org.