Arlington PD releases radio communication from Taylor shooting
ARLINGTON, Texas - The Arlington police officer who shot and killed an unarmed teen at a car dealership offered his statement on what happened Monday afternoon
Arlington police released police radio communication from the shooting on Monday in an effort to fight what they say is misinformation spreading online.
Surveillance video showed Taylor vandalizing several vehicles at the Classic Buick GMC dealership near Collins Street and Interstate 20 shortly after 1 a.m. Friday.
Taylor runs and then walks through a row of cars, spending most of his time jumping on the hood and windshield of a Ford Mustang.
That's when a security company called police -- at 1:06 a.m.
In the surveillance video, Taylor can be seen ripping sections of glass off and trying to slide into the car through the hole he made.
The security company told Taylor over loudspeakers that he needed to leave, and that police were on their way.
Responding officers at first didn't see Taylor and were unsure they had the right address.
Nine minutes after 1 a.m., Taylor leaves the Mustang, trips over the curb and appears to go toward the showroom.
Then he heads back toward his SUV.
At 1:13 a.m., he's in his SUV pushing through the gate, headed toward the showroom.
Soon after, there was a dispatch from a responding female officer, saying, “I'm in front of the Buick, that truck accessory place, and the gate is slightly open.”
At 1:17 a.m., 11 minutes after police were called out, officers are seen approaching the showroom. They get their first sighting of Taylor, who has a Mohawk-type haircut that was dyed blonde, which the officer mistook for a hat.
POLICE RADIO AUDIO: "I see someone in a straw hat."
The span of time between that call and the subsequent moment Taylor was shot is 2 minutes and 11 seconds; not one second, as has been speculated on social media.
In that time, rookie Officer Brad Miller confronted Taylor, and there was an altercation.
Miller's training corporal fired his taser at Taylor, and Miller fired his 9-millimeter service weapon.
Officer Miller fired four shots, hitting Taylor in the neck, chest and abdomen.
At 1:19 a.m. and 33 seconds, an officer on scene dispatched, "Shots fired, shots fired."
The FBI has declined to join the investigation of the officer-involved shooting, but the Arlington police chief vowed to have an open and transparent review of the incident.
For the first time since Taylor was killed, FOX 4 was invited inside the showroom on Monday where the shooting happened.
The dealership wanted the public to see that there are no cameras inside that would have recorded Taylor being shot or the confrontation with Miller.
The only cameras, 32 of them, are outside. Roughly six or seven of them picked up Taylor during the incident.
Former police chief and investigator Catherine Smit-Torrez, who is not involved in this case, says the biggest unanswered question right now is what happened in that 2-minute-and-11-seconds timespan.
"They might be able to release eventually what action caused the officer to shoot a taser and a weapon at the subject,” she said. “Hopefully, eventually they will at one point be able to bring out there was an action that triggered that response."
A “Unity Peace and Prayer Rally” will be held at Cornerstone Baptist Church in Arlington on Wednesday and the Arlington police chief will be there to answer questions.
People will also have the chance to voice their opinion about the Arlington Police Department to a group reviewing its standards.
The review is part of the Law Enforcement Accreditation Program and it takes place every four years.
The police department must show that it follows standards that help strengthen crime prevention and improve the community’s confidence in the department.
The public hearing is at 6 p.m. at the West District community room on West Green Oaks Boulevard.
Demonstrators gathered at the Arlington Police Department Monday night for a vigil and protest.