A Texas cop killed a Black man called a ‘pillar of the community.’ Now he’s charged with murder. Shortly after a police officer allegedly shot a man Saturday night outside a gas station in Wolfe City, Tex., bystanders rushed to the scene. They were speechless when they saw the victim. In this small North Texas town, seemingly everyone knew Jonathan Price. “We all love him and think so highly of him and just the nicest guy you could ever meet,” Kyla Sanders, who ran to the scene from a nearby store, told WFAA, calling Price, a 31-year-old Black man who was a city employee and personal trainer, a “pillar of the community.” In fact, witnesses told reporters, Price had tried to break up a fight inside the gas station before Wolfe City police officer Shaun Lucas showed up. But Lucas, who is White, ended up Tasering Price and then fatally shooting him, authorities said. Authorities have charged Wolfe City, Tex., police officer Shaun Lucas, left, with murder for the shooting death of Jonathan Price, a city employee, outside a gas station. (Texas Rangers/Facebook) The Wolfe City Police Department quickly suspended Lucas, and on Monday, the Texas Rangers arrested the police officer and charged him with murder in connection with Price’s death. “The preliminary investigation indicates that the actions of Officer Lucas were not … reasonable,” the Texas Department of Public Safety said in a statement shared with The Washington Post. The arrest comes after an emotional plea from Price’s family on Monday and a peaceful demonstration in Wolfe City. Price became the latest Black man killed by police to spark national demands for law enforcement reform, as #JusticeForJonathan trended on social media throughout Monday. “I want to see the man get what’s coming to him for killing my son,” Junior Price, his father, said, WFAA reported. Jonathan Price grew up in Wolfe City, a town of about 1,400 located more than an hour northeast of Dallas, starring as an athlete and playing alongside future Major League Baseball player Will Middlebrooks, who called him his “first ever favorite teammate.” He later played football in 2008 for Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, Tex., before returning to his hometown to work in the municipal works department, Heavy.com reported. “He was a great guy. He was a hometown hero. He was a motivational speaker. He worked with kids,” Lee Merritt, a civil rights attorney representing Price’s family, said at a Monday news conference. Officials have released few details about what happened on Saturday. State officials said Lucas was called just before 8:30 p.m. to investigate a fight at the Kwik Check gas station in downtown Wolfe City. When the officer tried to detain Price, the DPS said, he “resisted in a nonthreatening posture and began walking away.” Lucas Tasered him and then shot him; Price later died at a nearby hospital. Police have not said whether Price was armed. Witnesses at the scene, though, told reporters that Price was simply trying to stop a confrontation. According to Merritt, Price stepped in when he noticed a man “assaulting a woman” at the gas station. “When police arrived, I’m told, he raised his hands and attempted to explain what was going on,” Merritt wrote on Facebook. “Police fired tasers at him and when his body convulsed from the electrical current, they ‘perceived a threat’ and shot him to death.” Price’s father said on Monday that he rushed to the gas station after the shooting and confronted Lucas, who was still on the scene as they waited for an ambulance. Lucas refused to say why he had shot Price, his father said. “He just told me to get back. He said he’d tell me later. And later ain’t gotten here yet,” he said at the news conference. The gas station has given police surveillance video that shows the shooting, Merritt said, though the family’s legal team has yet to see it. Merritt said he spoke to Wolfe City Police Chief Matthew Martin, who has not yet publicly commented on the case, and that Martin said “he was not happy with what he saw.” On Monday, the Texas Rangers booked Lucas into Hunt County Jail and held him on $1 million bond, WFAA reported. He bonded out before morning, KTXA reported. It’s not clear if he has an attorney yet. Merritt called for swift justice in the case. “This didn’t happen quickly. It should happened the day he murdered JP. John should still be here,” he wrote on Facebook. “This is step one. Let’s see it through to justice.”
wow....just, wow a young man lost his life because of some stupid cop yet again All u racist POS, tell me how Price was a criminal who deserved what he got. Tell me how he was some thug.
horrible. too easy for people that shouldn't be cops to become cops; too easy for cops to use lethal force when it isn't needed. this is why our current paradigm of policing needs to be revisited. not because all cops are bad, but because we've got a system that makes it too easy for innocent people to get killed.
Thankful for the swift arrest. Hopefully justice prevails. Prayers to the deceased gentleman's family.
I would like to know what he was doing that made to cop do what he did this just smells of the cop just wanting to kill.
I read about this yesterday and did not want to post about it until I got more info. Now all I can say is piece of **** coward cop, how the hell does this escalate to this point. Just look at that fat piece of ****. And people wonder why BLM exists.
Small town like that you never know, could be jealousy of him being well known and liked, could be he ****ed somebody the cop liked or even just high school rivals. I will say this was handled swiftly andthat is uncommon so maybe there is a small crack in the blue wall?
Justice after the fact is reactionary and not enough. Where is the prevention. There must be a nationwide mandate for audit of every police department in the country. Note I said audit. Not witch hunt. Not defund or dismantle. Every cop should be evaluated for fitness to serve. any professional auditor can tell you it can be and should be done in phases. Screen based on objective criteria. Those who pass obvious gates need no more analysis. Then have a second gate where further analysis is done. And so on, Nobody is entitled to be a cop. It is a job with qualifications and responsibilities. Need a nationwide effort to examine. This is too important.
Horrible and a real tragedy. At least the LEO was arrested and charged quickly. Hopefully Price's family will have justice. This shouldn't have happened and it's a low bar that the LEO was arrested quickly but is progress compared to the weeks it took to arrest Chauvin in the George Floyd situation.
Why is his fat ass even a cop? He looks like the type to just bust out the taser and gun because it’s less work. How’d a cop in some small town immediately come up with 100k to post bail? Did mommy and daddy help him out? max penalties for this cop, and then throw his ass in gen pop imagine breaking up a fight, and then the police come and tase and shoot u...ridiculous
BLM! ANTIFA! While holding his foot-long Subway with extra mayonnaise (WTF is it with people getting so much g.d. mayo on their subs, anyway?) in the other hand.
Saw this yesterday and an investigation was still ongoing. Glad they arrested the guy. Sounds like we lost a good man and a POS. I'll let you fill in the blanks for who is who.
Without a doubt they had this cop dead to rights, airtight witnesses to testify or they would have waffled and tried to give a song and dance. Looking at this schlub, it was one of two life paths: Cop or 'Pro' gamer living with his mom.
I need to stop reading the news. This **** is making me sick. He looks like the adult version of Kyle Rittenhouse.
