Amber Guyger, a 4-year veteran police officer assigned to the Dallas Police Department’s Southeast Patrol Division, was like any other law enforcement officer until September 6, 2018, when she ended the life of an unarmed 26-year-old, Botham Shem Jean, in one of the strangest cases to rock the United States in 2018.
In addition to a widely deserved airing of criticism, Guyger was the subject of a criminal investigation following this incident. She was 30 at the time of the shooting and has been placed on administrative leave pending the results of the investigation. The incident reignited the long-running debate about police brutality against people of color in the United States.
Why did she shoot Botham Jean?
According to Amber Guyger, the shooting of Botham Jean was a matter of mistaken identity. The two men were actually neighbors at South Side Flats, located at 1210 South Lamar Street in Dallas, Texas. With Guyger in a third-floor apartment, Jean was directly above his own, on the fourth floor.
However, on that fateful Thursday, September 6, 2018, the notorious cop parked his car by mistake and exited the 4th floor instead of his own. According to reports, Guyger spotted Jean trying to enter the apartment she thought was hers and assumed he was a burglar. She shot him twice with her service firearm. She would be back after 15 hours of work dressed in her police uniform. The shooting is believed to have taken place around 10 p.m.
Realizing her costly folly, Amber Guyger quickly dialed the police dispatch and, after about four minutes, the response team arrived and informed her that they had mistaken her apartment for hers. The team administered first aid to the victim, Botham Jean, after which he was transferred near Baylor University Medical Center, where he died after unsuccessful attempts to resuscitate him. As revealed by the Dallas County Medical Examiner’s Office, he died of a gunshot wound to the chest and the other shot was inflicted on his chest.
Arrest and prosecution
Police officer. Amber Guyger was not arrested at the crime scene but a sample of her blood was taken to be tested for alcohol and drugs. To the dismay of family members devastated by Botham Jean and several other observers, she remained free for several days after the grim incident. She eventually surrendered to the Kaufman County Sheriff’s Department on September 9, 2018, after which she was sentenced to jail. However, she was released hours after posting $300,000 bail.
The Botham JeanAmber Guyger murder investigation was initially handled under the Dallas Police Department’s shooting protocol involving the policeman, which however has since changed due to the specifics of the case. To avoid any appearance of bias, the Dallas PD also withdrew as the lead investigative agency and the case was transferred to the Texas Ranges Division of the Texas Department of Public Safety.
A grand jury has also been appointed to decide which charges should be brought against the misguided police officer, the more serious charge of murder, a first-degree felony, or manslaughter, a second-degree felony.
Relationship between Amber Guyger and Botham Jean
The only known connection between Botham Shem Jean and the policewoman who cost him his life is that they lived in the same building. Since the shooting, the public has come up with various theories in an attempt to come up with a plausible explanation for what was happening. Although the infamous police officer said it was all a mistake on his part, many continue to speculate about the real motive behind his actions. The officer’s health and mental state were questioned, a possible use of hard drugs was also questioned, as was his uncanny eagerness to pull the trigger on an unarmed man.
A memorial service was held in honor of Botham Shem Jean on September 13, 2018 at the Church of Christ in Dallas West. The 26-year-old from the Caribbean island of Saint Lucia has been described by his friends and family members as a model citizen, an amazing individual, a devout Christian and a talented singer.
Until his unfortunate death, he was associated with the risk insurance department of PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in Dallas. Jean joined PwC as an intern in July 2016 after earning a bachelor’s degree in business administration, accounting and management information systems from Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas.