Former Balch Springs police Officer Roy Oliver was fired after fatally shooting 15-year-old Jordan Evans in the head with a rifle.
The Dallas-area officer who fatally shot a Black high school freshman over the weekend is now out of a job.
The Balch Springs Police Department fired Officer Roy Oliver Tuesday, May 2, after he fired his rifle into a car full of teens as they left a party Saturday evening. Fifteen-year-old Jordan Edwards was fatally struck in the head.
“After reviewing the findings, I’ve made the decision to terminate Roy Oliver’s employment with the Balch Springs Police Department,” Balch Springs Police Chief Jonathan Haber said Tuesday. “We will now wait for the independent investigation being conducted by the Dallas County Sheriff’s Office and the Public Integrity Unit with the District Attorney’s Office to run their course.”
Haber said Oliver violated several policy violations but stopped short of detailing them, citing the officer’s right to appeal his termination.
“From our policies, which I went by, there were violations,” he said. “I acted on them.”
The six-year veteran was one of two officers who responded to reports of drunken teenagers at a house party Saturday, April 29. It was originally reported that the car Edwards was riding in backed down the road in an aggressive manner toward officers, prompting Oliver to fire his weapon. However, the Balch Springs’ police chief said footage of the incident showed that the teens were actually driving away when the officer opened fire.
In a press release, the department said it had concluded its internal investigation but would continue working with the Dallas County Sheriff’s Office and the Dallas County district attorney’s integrity unit to help complete the criminal investigation.
Edwards’ family expressed satisfaction with Oliver’s firing but said there’s still a rough road ahead. Family members have since called for the former officer to be arrested on a murder charge and hope that other officers involved the incident also will be held responsible, The Dallas Morning News reported.
“After Jordan’s two brothers, Vidal and Kevon, along with their two friends, were forced to experience this tragedy up close as occupants of the car, they were immediately treated as common criminals by other officers — manhandled, intimidated and arrested, while their brother lay dying in the front seat,” the Edwards family said in a statement. “The officers who extended this nightmare for those children ought to be properly reprimanded.”
Relatives have since called for peace in the wake of the teen’s death. Edwards will be laid to rest on Saturday, May 6.
