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Dallas police officer who killed black man after mistaking his apartment for hers arrested, charged
Dallas Police Officer Amber Guyger was arrested and charged with manslaughter after shooting and killing a black man in his apartment that she had mistaken for hers. (Kaufman County Jail)

Dallas police officer who killed black man after mistaking his apartment for hers arrested, charged

Justice may be coming for the family of 26-year-old Botham Shem Jean, who was gunned down in his apartment Thursday.

The Dallas police officer who authorities say shot and killed Jean after she entered his apartment believing it was hers was arrested late Sunday.

What are the details?

Amber Guyger, a four-year veteran of the Dallas Police Department, was booked at the Kaufman County Jail at 7:20 p.m., according to The Dallas Morning News. She is charged with manslaughter.

She was released from jail by 8:30 p.m. after a judge set her bail at $300,000.

Authorities initially postponed obtaining a warrant for Guyger's arrest as Dallas Police and the Texas Rangers, a separate law enforcement agency that is also investigating the incident, worked to decipher the unusual incident.

Typically, officers shoot and kill people during their working shift. In Guyger's case, she had just returned home from working and was still in her uniform.

Many details about the incident remain unknown. Authorities have offered the public little detail about what happened other than Guyger's claim that she shot Jean after mistakenly entering his apartment under the assumption that it was hers. Police said she called 911 immediately afterward. Video taken at the scene showed Guyger sobbing while pacing back and forth outside the apartment.

Jean was pronounced dead after arriving at Baylor University Medical Center. Paramedics attempted to revive him with CPR.

Guyger's apartment is directly below Jean's. The two reportedly did not know one another.

What did Jean's attorney say?

Lee Merritt, a Dallas-based civil rights attorney who is representing Jean's family, lamented the time between the alleged crime and Guyger's arrest.

"It came later than we would expect under the circumstances where a young man was shot in his own home," he said, according to the Washington Post. "It's still going to be a long road. They still don't know what happened to their son."

He also criticized the Texas Rangers for postponing Guyger's arrest, which they claimed was necessary to gather additional evidence to meet the probable cause standard.

"In any normal case where there's probable cause ... you make an arrest," Merritt said. "When law enforcement [is under investigation], for some reason, we don't use the normal protocol in dealing with criminal activity."

What did Dallas' mayor say?

Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings thanked the Texas Rangers for their work.

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