An attorney for the white Texas police officer charged for murder after fatally shooting a Black man outside a convenience store last weekend said his client discharged his weapon "in accordance with Texas law" after Jonathan Price tried to take away his taser. The Texas Rangers charged Wolfe City officer Shaun Lucas with murder on Monday night. The 22-year-old was booked into the Hunt County Jail, where his bail was set at $1 million, according to jail records. "Officer Lucas only discharged his weapon in accordance with Texas law when he was confronted with an aggressive assailant who was attempting to take his taser," Robert L. Rogers, the attorney, told USA TODAY in an emailed statement Tuesday. Lucas shot Price after responding to a disturbance call Saturday night "for a possible fight in progress," officials said. The officer tried to detain Price "who resisted in a non-threatening posture and began walking away," according to the Rangers' statement. Lucas then used a Taser on Price before shooting him with his service weapon, officials said. "The preliminary investigation indicates that the actions of Officer Lucas were not objectionably reasonable," officials said.
After being arrested and charged with murder, he was taken to the Hunt County jail. But since he worked there as a jailer, he was moved to the Rockwall County jail. His bond was set at $1 million. Lucas’ attorney is Robert Rogers, the same lawyer who represented former Dallas Officer Amber Guyger. She is currently serving 10 years for killing Botham Jean. There will be a public visitation for Price on Friday in Greenville. His funeral is Saturday at 11 a.m. at the Wolfe City High School football field.
Sounds like he was a good dude, and the cop's defense is terrible and false. Seems like a guy I'd like to have a beer with, and I don't drink beer. I'd say that about 98% of the guys here, too, fwiw.
The Texas police officer charged with murder after killing Jonathan Price outside a convenience store shot him four times in the torso, according to the probable cause affidavit released by the Hunt County District Clerk on Wednesday. Wolfe City Police Officer Shaun Lucas said he was responding to a report of a disturbance and a possible fight in progress Saturday at approximately 8:30 p.m. at a Kwik Chek store. S. Lee Merritt, the attorney for Price's family, said Price, a 31-year-old Black man, was intervening in a domestic dispute and was never violent before Lucas shot him. "The situation was resolved before law enforcement arrived, according to witnesses," the attorney said. "Why this officer still felt the need to tase and shoot Jonathan is beyond comprehension." After arriving at the store, Lucas was greeted by Price, who came very close to Lucas and asked "You doing good?" multiple times, according to the affidavit. Price tried to shake the officer's hand. Lucas thought Price was intoxicated. He attempted to detain Price when Price told him, "I can't be detained," the affidavit states. "Officer Lucas continued to attempt to detain Price by grabbing Price's arm and using verbal commands, which were both unsuccessful," the affidavit says. Lucas told Price he would be tased if he didn't comply and Price began to walk away, according to the affidavit. Lucas deployed the Taser, but the affidavit says the device was not fully effective and Price "continued to walk toward Officer Lucas" while being tased. According to the affidavit, "Price appeared to reach out and grab the end of Officer Lucas' Taser" and Lucas shot him four times in the upper torso. Lucas was charged with murder this week after a preliminary investigation determined his actions were unreasonable, authorities said. Price died at a hospital, the Texas Department of Public Safety said in a statement. "The preliminary investigation indicates that the actions of Officer Lucas were not (objectively) reasonable," it said. Attorney Robert Rogers, who is representing Lucas, said Price "did not claim to be an uninvolved, innocent party" before Lucas attempted to detain him. “After Mr. Price refused repeated instructions and physically resisted, Officer Lucas deployed his Taser and continued to give Mr. Price instructions. Mr. Price resisted the effects of the Taser and attempted to take it away from Officer Lucas," Rogers said in a statement Tuesday night. "Officer Lucas only discharged his weapon in accordance with Texas law when he was confronted with an aggressive assailant who was attempting to take his Taser." A preliminary autopsy report from the Dallas County Medical Examiner's Office provided the cause of death: gunshot wounds. A full report, with toxicology results, is expected in six to eight weeks.
imagine breaking up a fight, greeting the officers who arrive on the scene, and then you’re the one they immediately try to detain...
Based on what officers say and their reports tend to indicate, why is there always such a "problem" with tasers? They don't work, they don't fire, they aren't effective.....
Unarmed Black man Jonathan Price offered handshake, asked if officer was ‘doing good’ before cop shot him: affidavit By NELSON OLIVEIRA NEW YORK DAILY NEWS | OCT 08, 2020 AT 2:49 PM The unarmed Black man who was killed by a white Texas cop over the weekend had offered a handshake and asked the officer if he was “doing good” before the encounter turned deadly, according to a newly released affidavit. Jonathan Price, 31, died after being shot four times in a scene that was captured on the officer’s body-worn camera Saturday night at a gas station in Wolfe City, state prosecutors said. The footage, which has not been released, was a crucial piece of evidence leading to murder charges against the rookie cop, 22-year-old Shaun Lucas, two days after the shooting. Family and friends said Price, a one-time college football player described as a “hometown hero,” was acting as a good Samaritan and was trying to stop a domestic assault inside the gas station’s convenience store when the officer arrived. One of the lawyers representing the family, civil rights attorney S. Lee Merritt, said Price raised his hands and tried to explain what was happening when Lucas opened fire. The affidavit, released Wednesday by the Texas Department of Public Safety, raises even more questions about the officer’s conduct. It says that when Lucas arrived at the store to investigate a “possible fight” around 8:30 p.m., Price asked “you doing good?” several times and offered to shake the officer’s hand. Price even apologized for broken glass on the ground and told Lucas that someone had tried “to wrap me up,” according to the affidavit. But the officer told detectives he thought Price was intoxicated and decided to detain him. The personal trainer and body builder allegedly replied, “I can’t be detained,” and began to walk away as Lucas grabbed his arm and showed a stun gun, investigators said. The officer then tased the unarmed man, who appeared to reach out to grab the stun gun from him, and shot him four times in the torso, according to the affidavit. Price was pronounced dead at a hospital that night. State authorities said in a statement Monday that Price “resisted in a non-threatening posture and began walking away," but they added that the officer’s actions were not “objectionably reasonable.” Lucas is being held on $1 million bond at the Hunt County Jail.