City fires police officer who fatally shot 15-year-old black teen

The Balch Springs Police Department has fired the officer who shot and killed 15-year-old Jordan Edwards while he was leaving a party in the Dallas suburb, authorities announced Tuesday.

The department said it let officer Roy Oliver, a six-year veteran of the force, go for violating "several department policies" after it was discovered that he fired shots into a car as it was driving away.

Initial reports of the shooting said that the vehicle was driving in an "aggressive manner" toward the police officers, but the report was later corrected to reflect that the vehicle carrying teens was, in fact, driving away from police officers.

The Dallas County medical examiner ruled Edwards' death a homicide, and though no charges have been brought against Oliver, the Dallas County DA's office is investigating the case in conjunction with the local sheriff's office.

HEAR what Balch Springs Police Chief Johnathan Haber has to say. @CBSDFW pic.twitter.com/o7DPfhFUv6

— Andrea Lucia (@CBS11Andrea) May 2, 2017

The slain teen's family said that they are anticipating Oliver's arrest and revealed that Edwards' two brothers were also in the vehicle at the time of the shooting. According to the family, the brothers not only witnessed their brother's death but were "manhandled, intimidated and arrested."

In a statement, the Edwards family said:

We are grateful the decision has been made to terminate the officer responsible for Jordan's murder. Over the past 24 hours Chief Haber has made commendable strides toward justice. However, there remains a long road ahead. We anxiously await this officer's identification and arrest for the crime of murder.

The magnitude of his horrible actions cannot be overstated. We fully expect an equivalent response from those responsible for investigating and punishing the crime. We also know that although his actions were the most wicked and consequential, he was not the only officer responsible for dreadful behavior that evening.

After Jordan's two brothers, Vidal and Kevon, along with their two friends, were forced to experience this tragedy up close as occupants of the car, they were immediately treated as common criminals by other officers; manhandled, intimidated and arrested, while their brother lay dying in the front seat.

The officers who extended this nightmare for those children ought to be properly reprimanded as well. Our family is working hard to deal with both the loss of our beloved Jordan and the lingering trauma it has caused our boys.

Lee Merritt, attorney for the Edwards family, reported that one of Edwards' brothers was handcuffed and detained overnight.

"After seeing his brother get shot," Merritt said, "Jordan's older brother was handcuffed and taken by police for no particular reason."

Merritt noted that Edwards' older brother was not a suspect and that there were no charges filed against him.

On Wednesday morning, Merritt revealed via Twitter that Oliver is appealing his dismissal.

Roy Oliver is appealing his termination ... let that sink in.

— S. Lee Merritt (@MeritLaw) May 3, 2017