A cop from Arlington, a Dallas, Texas suburb, has been indicted for the deadly shooting that occurred last September, during what should have been a routine traffic stop.
Officer Bau Tran shot and killed O’Shae Terry, the driver of an SUV he had pulled over for a suspected registration violation. A grand jury has indicted Tran with criminally negligent homicide, which carries a maximum sentence of 2 years in jail and a permanent suspension from the force.
On September 1, Tran and his colleague pulled over Terry’s SUV for a traffic check. The colleague told Terry and his passenger, Terrence Harmon, that she smelled marijuana coming from the vehicle, and headed back to the patrol car.
Bodycam footage shows that this is the moment when Terry rolled up the passenger side window, even though Tran was still standing near it. He yelled “Hey, stop!” and climbed on the vehicle’s running board while holding onto the still-open window. Terry started to drive off and Bran put his gun through the window and shot at the driver several times.
Terry died at the hospital but the passenger was not hurt.
Police later recovered weed and pills and a loaded gun from the vehicle, but Tran says he acted appropriately given the circumstances. He also “feels very strongly that he did what he thought was best under the circumstances and is quite surprised that he wasn’t supported by his department's leaders,” his attorney Randall Moore says in a statement to Fox4.
“If we’re going to keep judging our officers by the end result rather than reasonableness of their actions under the circumstances, we’re going to have a real problem finding police officers,” Moore adds.
Meanwhile, Terry’s family says that, while the indictment comes as good news, it’s less than what they expected: anyone else than a cop had done this, they would have been charged with murder.
On September 1, Tran and his colleague pulled over Terry’s SUV for a traffic check. The colleague told Terry and his passenger, Terrence Harmon, that she smelled marijuana coming from the vehicle, and headed back to the patrol car.
Bodycam footage shows that this is the moment when Terry rolled up the passenger side window, even though Tran was still standing near it. He yelled “Hey, stop!” and climbed on the vehicle’s running board while holding onto the still-open window. Terry started to drive off and Bran put his gun through the window and shot at the driver several times.
Terry died at the hospital but the passenger was not hurt.
Police later recovered weed and pills and a loaded gun from the vehicle, but Tran says he acted appropriately given the circumstances. He also “feels very strongly that he did what he thought was best under the circumstances and is quite surprised that he wasn’t supported by his department's leaders,” his attorney Randall Moore says in a statement to Fox4.
“If we’re going to keep judging our officers by the end result rather than reasonableness of their actions under the circumstances, we’re going to have a real problem finding police officers,” Moore adds.
Meanwhile, Terry’s family says that, while the indictment comes as good news, it’s less than what they expected: anyone else than a cop had done this, they would have been charged with murder.