The story behind how and why Officer Amber Guyger entered the wrong apartment in the building where she lived and shot resident Botham Jean in his own home is hazy at best. Both Guyger and law enforcement officials are releasing details that seem to be in conflict with each other.
When the news first broke of an officer-involved shooting, Dallas police reported Officer Amber Guyger had just gotten off her shift and entered an apartment she believed to be her own before shooting and killing the actual resident of the apartment, 26-year-old Botham Jean. Jean was a PricewaterhouseCoopers employee who lived on an entirely different floor from Guyger. As the Star-Telegram pointed out in the immediate aftermath, Dallas police have been evading some very basic questions about why she was so confused, how long she was in the apartment, and even whether Guyger and Jean knew each other. Jean had a red doormat outside his front door; how could Guyger stand on that to enter the apartment and not realize that she herself doesn’t have a red doormat?
The details get even more murky from there. A police source initially told reporters that Guyger put some things down to struggle with the key, and when the resident opened the door, she was startled. NBC News later retracted that part of their initial story, saying:
A previous version of this story included an account of events told by a Dallas police source. Due to conflicting reports of the incident from various sources, we've removed that account from the story.
Okay. One of those conflicting reports comes from Dallas-based CBS reporter J.D. Miles, who reported that Guyger entered the apartment and ordered Jean to put his hands up and then shot him.
So, did Guyger struggle with the key and then enter the unlocked apartment on her own, or did Jean open the door when he heard someone at the door? A copy of the arrest affidavit, prepared by a law enforcement official with the Texas Rangers, has been released. The affidavit could be given to a grand jury to decide whether charges should be upgraded from manslaughter to the more serious homicide. That document is already being heavily criticized for bias and an apparent attempt to minimize Guyger’s responsibility for this egregious shooting. It also only presents the account as told by Amber Guyger. It does, however, offer new head-scratching details. A copy of the arrest affidavit can be seen below, but the newest account says Guyger inserted her key and the door was already slightly ajar. The force of inserting the key was enough to open the door, through which she saw a “large silhouette” and ordered the person to put their hands up before shooting the unarmed Jean twice in the chest. The affidavit goes onto say that Guyger called 911 from her cell phone and then began administering aid to Jean. During the 911 call, she reportedly turned on the lights and then looked at the front door to see that she was not at her apartment at all. Why would she need to look at the front door to realize she was standing in someone else’s home? Wouldn’t the furniture and decor that didn’t belong to her tip her off?
Jean’s family and neighbors are disputing Guyger’s claims. From the Dallas News:
Lawyers for Jean's family disputed the narrative in the arrest warrant affidavit at a news conference streamed live by WFAA-TV (Channel 8) Monday evening, saying Jean was a meticulous man who wouldn't have neglected to close and lock his door.
One attorney, Lee Merritt, said two independent witnesses had come forward to say they heard knocking on the door in the hallway before the shooting. Merritt said one witness reported hearing a woman's voice saying, "Let me in, let me in." Then they heard gunshots, he said.
After the gunshots, one of the witnesses reported hearing what she thought was a man's voice saying, "Oh my God, why did you do that," Merritt said.
He said he believes those were Jean's last words.
Notice what’s missing? Neighbors don’t seem to be reporting that she was yelling for Jean to put his hands up. Not that he would have any obligation to do so, given that he was an innocent, unarmed person minding his own business inside his own home! She was the intruder, not him! And now they are claiming that somehow Botham Jean might be at fault for not putting his hands up at lightning speed and immediately taking orders from an armed intruder, in the dark, inside his own home.
A woman who claims to be Jean’s neighbor and who said she heard the whole thing has shared these two photos on Twitter, including one that shows that the apartment numbers are well lit.
Was Amber Guyger impaired in some way? Even after a full shift, most people don’t a) park on the wrong floor of the garage; b) fail to notice a bright red doormat that doesn’t belong to them; c) enter the wrong apartment; and d) shoot an unarmed person. Police drew blood samples from Guyger at the scene, but the results have not been released.
Attorney Benjamin Crump is representing the family, and he hit the nail on the head:
"Black people in America have been killed by police in some of the most unbelievable manners," Crump said earlier Monday, citing "driving while black in our cars" and "walking while black in our neighborhoods."
Now, he said, "we are being killed living while black when we are in our apartments."
As the days go by, more and more questions are arising, and it is time for the Dallas police department and district attorney to be as transparent as possible about the circumstances around Botham Jean’s murder.