Christian Taylor, a sophomore defensive back at Angelo State University, was shot and killed by a police officer in training after Taylor allegedly drove into a car dealership in Arlington, Texas on Friday.
Police said they were responding to a call of a burglary in progress after a security company monitoring cameras at the dealership called 911. “The officers went and confronted him. There was an altercation. An officer discharged his weapon and struck the suspect,” Sgt. Paul Rodriguez, a police spokesman, told the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram.
Taylor, who was unarmed, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Officer Brad Miller, 49, joined the Arlington Police Department in September and graduated from the police academy in March. “Before joining the department, Miller had no police experience,” the Dallas Morning News reported. “At the time of the shooting he was in field training and under the supervision of a police training officer.” Miller has been placed on administrative leave.
It’s unclear whether the incident was captured on video. According to the Morning News, police said they reviewed video captured by security cameras at the car dealership but it did not contain footage of the shooting. Police also said that officers in the Arlington Police Department don’t wear body cameras, though a pilot program is being implemented.
Taylor’s death comes nearly one year to the day after the high-profile killing of Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager shot and killed by police in Ferguson, Missouri last August. The incident ignited protests around police brutality and racial inequality that quickly spread far beyond Ferguson, launching movements like Black Lives Matter into the national spotlight.
In the last year, the deaths of Tamir Rice, Freddie Gray, Walter Scott, and numerous other unarmed African Americans at the hands of police have shone an ugly spotlight on the frequency with which such incidents occur and the rarity of formal charges being brought against the officer responsible. Taylor himself expressed concern regarding police violence, particularly against people of color, on his Twitter account.
I don't feel protected by the police
— October 13th (@he_got_sneaks) August 12, 2014
Police taking black lives as easy as flippin a coin, with no consequences smh
— October 13th (@he_got_sneaks) December 24, 2014
Taylor was looking forward to his sophomore football season, according to Travis Pride, Taylor’s high school football coach who had spoken to the 19-year-old the day before the shooting. “He told me that he thought he’d have an opportunity to start,” Pride said. “He was ready to get back. He loved the coaches, loved the program. All signs were pointed to go, for him to go get things done.”
Angelo State head coach Will Wagner said simply, “Heart is hurting” in a tweet posted Friday.