On Monday, Texas rangers arrested Wolfe City police officer Shaun Lucas for the murder of 31-year-old Jonathon Price in North Texas, as officials said his actions were not “objectionably reasonable.”
In a statement, the Texas Department of Public Safety said that Lucas, who is white, was arrested on suspicion of the murder of Price, who was a black unarmed man.
Although Lucas’ arrest came quickly compared to other high-profile police shootings in Texas that have resulted in criminal charges, civil rights attorney Lee Merritt, who is representing Price’s family, said that the arrest did not happen quickly enough.
“It should have happened the day he murdered Price. John should still be here,” Merritt said in a Facebook post. “This did happen because this family fought for their son from the beginning and people worked hard both behind the scenes and in the public eye to make it happen,” he added.
The incident occurred in a small town northeast of Dallas on Saturday, after police were called over a disturbance. According to the DPS, Price had intervened when he saw a man assaulting a woman. But when the police arrived at the scene, he raised his hands to try to explain what had happened. However, Lucas still tried to detain Price, who, in turn, “resisted in a non-threatening posture and began walking away.”
“Officer Lucas made contact with a man, later identified as 31-year-old Jonathan Price, who was reportedly involved in the disturbance. Officer Lucas attempted to detain Price, who resisted in a non-threatening posture and began walking away,” a DPS statement said. That’s when Lucas fired a taser at Price and then shot him.
“The preliminary investigation indicates that the actions of Officer Lucas were not objectionably reasonable,” the department said in a statement.
According to reports from CBS Dallas, Lucas was arrested and charged with murder, but he made his $1 million bond within hours. In the meantime, Rangers are investigating the incident, and Lucas is on administrative leave pending the investigation.
