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Cop Who Entered Man's Apartment By Mistake And Shot Resident 'Has To Be Crazy,' Says Dead Man's Mom
"And if you try your key and it doesn't work, that should make you realize you're at the wrong apartment," said the grieving mother of Botham Shem Jean.
The scion of a prominent Caribbean family was shot to death by a Dallas police officer Thursday night, after that officer mistakenly entered his apartment thinking it was her own.
The officer said “she entered into the victim’s apartment believing it was her own apartment and at some point she pulled her weapon and shot the victim,” Sgt. Warren Mitchell, a Dallas police spokesman, said at a news conference outside of the apartment complex where the killing took place.
The officer had just finished working a full shift and was still in uniform when she entered the home of Botham Shem Jean, Sgt. Mitchell said. Responding officers administered first aid, but Jean died at a local hospital.
"We still have a lot to do in this investigation," Mitchell said, adding it would be conducted jointly with the Dallas County District Attorney’s office. Meanwhile, the officer has been placed on leave, according to a news release by the Dallas Police Department.
Late on Friday Dallas Police Chief Renee Hall held a news conference and said police were seeking a arrest warrant against the officer for the charge of manslaughter. Chief Hall also said police had obtained a blood sample from the officer to test for alcohol and drugs.
Dallas police have not yet named the officer who pulled the trigger, but Chief Hall said she was white.
Jean, a native of Saint Lucia and a graduate of Harding University in Arkansas, worked at the Dallas office of PricewaterhouseCoopers, a tax and consulting service, according to the Dallas Morning News.
“The entire Harding family grieves today for the loss of Botham Jean, who has meant so very much to us," Harding University said in a statement.
Jean was the first son of Alison Jean, former Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Innovation, Gender Relations and Sustainable Development, and Bertram Jean, a supervisor at WASCO, a water and sewer company on St. Lucia, according to the St. Lucia Times.
"He did no one any wrong," Alison Jean told NBC News. "Somebody has to be crazy not to realize that they walked into the wrong apartment. And if you try your key and it doesn't work, that should make you realize you're at the wrong apartment.”
She said everyone loved her son, and he loved them all right back.
It was unclear how the officer got into Jean’s apartment, but an unnamed relative of Jean’s said that the officer’s key was found in the lock of the door to Jean’s apartment, after she tried but failed to open it, according to the St. Lucia Times.
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