It's sad to have to report the death of another child, especially at the hands of the police, but here we are once again. 15-year-old Jordan Edwards was shot and killed by a Balch Springs police officer while leaving a party Saturday night. The teen was leaving the party with friends after hearing gunshots. He was struck by the officer’s bullet through the passenger side window of the vehicle in which he was traveling.
An unarmed 15 y/o child died after being shot in the head by Balch Springs PD (TX). A cop shot muliple rounds into a car filled with teens.
— S. Lee Merritt (@MeritLaw) April 30, 2017
Balch Springs Police Department released a very dense statement claiming that the teens were aggressively approaching the officers before rounds were shot.
More information from Dallas News explained the accusations of the police further:
"Balch Springs police Chief Jonathan Haber said officers heard gunshots as they were responding to a call of drunken teens about 11 p.m. in the 12300 block of Baron Drive. During an altercation, the vehicle backed down the road toward officers 'in an aggressive manner,'" Haber said. They went on to say, an officer fired at the vehicle and struck a passenger, who was then transported to the hospital and pronounced dead.
According to Attorney S. Lee Merritt, legal counsel for Edwards’ family, this is simply untrue. These teens were not the alleged intoxicated teens the police were called about, rather they were just trying to leave the party.
For the police to feel comfortable pulling the trigger as the "reasonable" choice here is beyond me.
Edwards' family is demanding justice, including that the police officer who killed their child be fired. The cop who shot the round's information has not been released.
The story is developing, however, what we do know is that this is a sad, sad day. A family is without a child all because the police continue to be trigger happy. We can only hope that justice will be served.
