A spokesperson for the FBI announced yesterday that the bureau would not be teaming up with local prosecutors in the investigation of the shooting death of Christian Taylor, a 19-year-old Angelo State University student.
Taylor was fatally shot on Friday night in Arlington, Texas after police received reports of a burglary at a local car dealership. Security camera footage shows Taylor behaving erratically in the lot, breaking into vehicles before crashing his own car through a glass window. After police arrived, Taylor, who was unarmed, reportedly refused to obey orders, which is when Officer Brad Miller fatally shot him. Miller was fired earlier today.
Because the police department is still conducting interviews, limited information has been released, but Taylor’s family members say that the college student’s behavior was uncharacteristic and that he did not deserve to die.
“You know, it could have been too much drinking, he could have been wrong place at the wrong time, he could have gotten something and he didn’t know what he was getting,” Adrian Taylor, Taylor’s father, told CBS Dallas. “I don’t know.”
The department launched criminal and administrative investigations and invited the FBI to join their probe. However, FBI officials declined, citing no evidence of civil rights violations.