An unarmed Black teen was fatally shot early Friday morning by a police office in Arlington, Texas.
The victim, identified by the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office as Christian Taylor, was a sophomore at nearby Angelo State University where he played football. Taylor crashed his car through the window of a local car dealership, local authorities say, in what they’re calling an attemptive burgulary.
According to a statement released by Arlington Police, officers were responding to the burglary call around 1.a.m on Friday when they discovered someone had driven a vehicle through a front window of the Classic Buick GMC. An officer shot Taylor to death during a brief struggle at the scene.
Police identified the officer as Brad Miller, 49, who has been working under supervised training with another officer since he graduated from the police academy since March. The statement also revealed that Miller has no prior police experience before joining the Arlington police force. Miller has been placed on administrative leave.
“He was a good kid. I don’t see him stealing no car or nothing like that,” said Clyde Fuller, Taylor’s uncle.
The shooting comes amid growing scrutiny nationwide of police use of force, particularly in cases involving Black people. Last night #ChristianTaylor became the latest related hashtag to be trending on Twitter.