Christian Taylor Death: Friends And Family To Gather For Funeral Of Unarmed Football Player Shot By Police

UPDATE 5:28 p.m. EDT: More than 1,000 people gathered Saturday for the funeral of Christian Taylor, the 19-year-old football player shot to death by a rookie police officer in Arlington, Texas. The Dallas Morning News reported among those attending were teammates and coaches from Angelo State University, some five hours away. Also in attendance were Mayor Jeff Williams and Police Chief William Johnson.

The officer involved, Brad Miller, was fired earlier this week.

Original post:

Friends and relatives of Christian Taylor, 19, will gather Saturday for the funeral of the African-American football player at Angelo State University who was shot and killed by a police officer on a burglary call in a Dallas suburb Aug. 7. Taylor was unarmed at the time of his death. His funeral at the Koinonia Christian Church in Arlington, Texas, is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. local time, according to the Associated Press.

At around 1 a.m. on the day of Taylor’s death, police officers responded to a burglary call at an automobile dealership, where they found a car driven through the front of the building, according to an Arlington Police Department statement. During the call, Officer Brad Miller, 49, shot and killed Taylor.

After the incident, Miller was placed on administrative leave. The officer was fired four days later. He joined the Arlington department recently and had been in field training since graduating from the police academy in March. Miller had no other police experience before joining the department.

Released security footage at the dealership showed Taylor breaking a car windshield before driving a car onto the showroom floor. The Arlington Police Department does not use body cameras at this time, although it is in the process of implementing a pilot program.

The decision to terminate Miller’s employment was made based on an administrative investigation, which found he exercised “poor judgment” during the incident. Taylor was shot four times and died of gunshot wounds to his neck, chest and abdomen, according to the Tarrant County medical examiner’s office.

Arlington Police Department Chief Will Johnson enlisted the help of the FBI in the investigation.

Taylor’s death came amid increased criticism over the use of excessive force against black suspects by police officers around the U.S. and just days before the one-year anniversary of the fatal police-involved shooting of teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.