DPD Chief: Manslaughter Warrant Sought For Officer Who Killed Neighbor

DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) – A local man has died after being shot inside his own apartment by an off-duty Dallas police officer.

Investigators are still trying to piece together what happened but say it appears that after working a full shift, the officer went home to her apartment complex, the Southside Flats in the 1200 block of South Lamar, but went to the wrong unit.

Chief U. Renee Hall said at a news conference Friday that “there are more questions than we have answers” in the Thursday night killing of 26-year-old Botham Jean, but that with the information investigators have now, they’re seeking a manslaughter charge against the officer.

Believing the apartment was her own the officer, who was in full uniform, attempted to get inside. Sources tell CBS 11 News reporter J.D. Miles that the officer had actually gone to the wrong floor and put her key in the lock, but it wouldn’t turn.

The source said Jean opened the door and when he did the officer shot him twice in chest. Jean was rushed to Baylor University Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.

The Southside Flats apartments are just one block away from Dallas police headquarters.

A relative of Jean’s, believed to be his uncle, made an emotional Facebook post where he asked, “How can this nasty world take you away from me?”

Jean, a native of St. Lucia, was a graduate of Harding University and an employee with PricewaterhouseCoopers in Dallas. The company issued a statement this morning saying –

“This is a terrible tragedy. Botham Jean was a member of the PwC family in our Dallas office and we are simply heartbroken to hear of his death.”

The officer who shot Jean was the one who reported the shooting. Police have not identified her.

A CBS 11 News crew spoke with Dallas police and they said the officer who fired her weapon had not been interviewed. Officials would not answer questions as to how the mixup happened, or how the officer got inside someone else’s apartment.

The Dallas County District Attorney’s Office will be involved in the investigation.

The officer, who was not injured, will be placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.