Dallas Police Officer Who Entered Wrong Apartment And Killed Innocent Man Identified As Amber Guyger

Dallas Police have identified the off-duty officer who shot and killed Botham Shem Jean in a tragic accident as Amber Guyger, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. Guyger has been an officer with the Dallas Police Department for four years and has apparently been placed on administrative leave since the incident. This is common practice anytime an officer fires their gun. However, Dallas Police did also issue an arrest warrant for Guyger though charges are unclear.

Guyger, who is white, entered the apartment at 10 p.m. after her shift. She lives in the same complex and apparently thought she was entering her own apartment. In her confusion, she encountered Jean, who is black, and shot him. Jean, 26, was taken to a hospital but later died because of his wounds. Jean worked for PricewaterhouseCoopers, the famed accounting firm, in Dallas.

The officer involved in this incident has been identified as Officer Amber Guyger #10702. She has been on the department four years and she is assigned to the Southeast Patrol Division. https://t.co/IHeH9W3Cls

— Dallas Police Dept (@DallasPD) September 9, 2018

The apartment complex where both Guyger and Jean lived is only about a block away from police headquarters. Neighbors were shocked by the incident.

“Super scary because the police are supposed to protect you and then they come home and, you know, you’re just hanging out in your own house and then they come home thinking they’re home or whatever. I don’t know if she was tired but that’s pretty scary,” neighbor Richard Healy Nelson told KDFW after the incident.

Details of exactly how Guyger came to enter the wrong apartment have yet to be released, but it is apparent that she for some reason believed she was in her own home when she saw Jean and thought he was an intruder.

USA Today reported that Guyger has also shot a man before in the line of duty (she was off duty when she shot Jean). In that incident, she was assisting another officer in the search for a suspect. A man, Uvaldo Perez, exited his vehicle and grew combative. Guyger fired her Taser at Perez, who managed to get the Taser from her. At that point, she shot him in the abdomen.

Guyger was not charged in that incident, but police are still looking into the recent shooting with Jean while she is on administrative leave. The case has been turned over to the Texas Rangers, for more transparency.

“Right now there are more questions than answers,” Police Chief Renee said. “We understand the concerns of the community. That is why we are working as vigorously and meticulously as we can to ensure the integrity of the case and the department is upheld.”