New details have emerged in the shooting death of Jonathan Price by Wolfe City, Texas, police officer Shaun Lucas.
A probable cause affidavit, prepared by Texas Ranger Laura Simmons, indicates bodycam footage captured the entire encounter between Price and the police officer.
Price, a 31-year-old Black fitness trainer, greeted Lucas, a white officer, as he exited his police vehicle, asking him, “You doing good?” multiple times while extending his hand to the officer, according to the affidavit. Price proceeded to apologize for the broken glass in the area, telling the officer, “someone tried to wrap me up.”
The officer assumed Price was inebriated and attempted to apprehend the man. The affidavit indicated Lucas gave verbal commands and tried to grab his arms. The situation began to escalate after Lucas pulled out his taser and ordered the beloved trainer to comply, or he would use the tool meant to deter the use of a firearm.
“I can’t be detained,” Price told the officer.
The Wolfe City, Texas police officer, deployed the taser, which the affidavit noted was not fully effective.
After Lucas fired the taser, Price walked toward the officer, appearing to reach and grab the end of Lucas’ taser, according to the document.
Lucas then drew his weapon, fired the gun and shot Price four times in the torso.
Price was pronounced dead at Hunt County Regional Hospital later that evening.
Lucas was placed on administrative leave by the department pending an investigation. The state subsequently arrested and charged him with murder. The footage contradicts Lucas’ statement that he attempted to detain Price, but he resisted in a non-threatening posture and began walking away, as previously reported by Blavity.
He had been a police officer for six months when he killed Price, according to state employment records obtained by Blavity.
Price was at a gas station last Saturday when he broke up a domestic violence dispute involving a woman and another party. The fight had ended, and the situation de-escalated by the time Lucas arrived on the scene.
The preliminary investigation indicates that the actions of Officer Lucas were not objectionably reasonable.
In an interview with the CBS News Dallas, the distraught mother said her son didn’t deserve what happened to him.
“He didn’t have to shoot him. I know the [police] were trained to more than just tasing and shooting,” she said.
The understandably distraught mother told reporters that she wished the same horrific fate on Lucas.
“Take his life. He took a life, take his life. That’s the way I see it — but the right way,” she said.
Although Lucas’ arrest and charges won’t bring Price back, she did say his arrest has offered her broken spirit some relief.
“It was something that just uplifted me since I know that he’s locked up. And I got some sleep after that, a little rest, after I heard and saw that he was locked up,” she told the news channel.
Although the outcome of the case is pending, video and other evidence appear to show Lucas' intent to kill Price.
According to ABC News, Lucas has retained Robert Rogers, Amber Guyger's former attorney. Guyger, a former Dallas police officer, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for the shooting death of her neighbor Botham Jean in 2018.
