DALLAS _ A fired Balch Springs officer faces a murder charge in the fatal shooting of 15-year-old Jordan Edwards over the weekend as he left a party.
A judge signed a murder warrant Friday afternoon. The officer, Roy Oliver, has not been arrested and could turn himself into authorities. Bond is set for $300,000. Murder is punishable by up to life in prison.
Oliver, 37, fired a rifle into a car full of teenagers as it drove away from a party on April 29, striking the Mesquite High freshman in the head.
Balch Springs Police Chief Jonathan Haber said he terminated the six-year veteran of the department for violating policies, though he has refused to provide specifics.
Oliver, who lives in Combine, was the second of two officers who responded to a report of underage drinking the night Jordan was killed. After gunfire was heard in the area, the 15-year-old and four other teenagers got into their car to leave.
Originally, police had said Oliver fired on the vehicle because it was backing up aggressively toward the officers. But the department revised its account after reviewing body-cam footage, saying the car was driving away when Oliver shot.
The white officer's shooting of an unarmed black teenager has renewed allegations nationwide that racial bias among police has led to deadly overreactions. Jordan's family has asked people not to protest until after his funeral on Saturday.
An attorney for Jordan's family, Lee Merritt, said Jordan's parents were "grateful" Oliver investigators sought a murder charge. The news came as they prepared to bury Jordan on Saturday.
Merritt said there should not have been any doubt about whether Oliver would be arrested and that it would be the highest possible charge.
"It's a big deal, I think it begins to at least give the appearance that the state is not going to sweep this clear wrong under the wrong as it's done in the past," Merritt said. "However we also have to learn from history that we don't have a conviction yet. And so we still have some ways to go."
Jordan was a straight-A student and a standout athlete who was beloved by his schoolmates at Mesquite High School. He played on the freshman football team and was supposed to begin playing defensive back this spring.
Head football coach Jeff Fleener said he was "crushed and heartbroken" when he found out Jordan had been killed.
"The best thing in the world or the worst thing in the world would happen, and he'd smile, and everything would be OK," the coach said. "You create a checklist of everything you would want in a player, a son, a teammate, a friend, and Jordan had all that. He was that kid."
Oliver and a second officer, both wearing body cameras, went into the "house party" on Baron Drive. They were talking to the host when they heard what sounded like gunshots, the arrest warrant affidavit says.
Both cops went outside to see what was going on and saw several people running toward the corner of Shepherd Lane and Baron Drive. The second officer walked toward the area where he thought the shots has been fired.
Oliver went to the patrol car and got his rifle, a Modern Carbine, Model MC5.
The second officer tried to stop a black Chevrolet Impala at the intersection. The car slowly reversed and the second officer pulled his gun and walked toward the passenger side of the car.
As the car started to drive forward, the officer used his gun to break the rear passenger window.
That's when Oliver got behind the officer and fired several rounds into the car as it drove past him.
Other Balch Springs officers stopped the car on Bishop Drive, about two blocks from the party. Jordan Edwards had a gunshot wound to his head. He was taken to Baylor by helicopter.
Dallas County investigators retrieved four rifle cartridges from the intersection of Shepherd Lane and Baron Drive and took Oliver's rifle into evidence.
The warrant says Oliver "committed this offense while he intended to cause serious bodily injury in an act clearly dangerous to human life."
Two weeks before the shooting, Oliver was involved in an off-duty incident involving his gun. On Easter Sunday, a woman rear-ended his pickup truck in Dallas.
"As soon as I put my gear into park, he was already out of his truck, and he was at my window," said Monique Arredondo, 26. "He pulled out his gun on me."
Dressed in plainclothes, he demanded her driver's license, she said. "I'm like, 'You need to put your gun away. There's no need for the gun in my face.'"
Arredondo said her 13-year-old sister was in the back seat. "She's crying, not knowing what's going to happen."
When Dallas police officers arrived, Oliver had his gun holstered on his hip and a police badge clipped to his belt.
"Oliver told officers that at one point he had his gun out in a 'low ready' position and identified himself as a police officer because he believed the other individual may be reaching for a weapon or attempting to flee," Dallas police spokeswoman Debra Webb said in an email. The responding officers "determined that no offense occurred," she said.
Before becoming a peace officer in 2010 in Dalworthington Gardens near Fort Worth, Oliver had been on active duty with the Army since 2004. He served two tours in Iraq, from October 2004 to September 2005 and from January to November 2009.
Oliver's mother, Linda, told KXAS-TV that he's a "man of strong character."
She also told The New York Times that she'd "raised my kids to give back to the community, and he has."
"He is a very devoted father of two young children, and he is deep in faith."
He rose to the rank of sergeant and earned commendations, including a medal for good conduct. He also served in the Texas National Guard until 2012.
Oliver worked intermittently for Dalworthington Gardens over a span of 12 years. The city said in a prepared statement that he was hired in 1999 to work as a dispatcher, transferred to public works and then moved back to dispatch in 2002. He served in the city's Department of Public Safety less than a year _ from September 2010 until he resigned in May 2011.
Dalworthington Gardens officials said there were no complaints or disciplinary actions against Oliver while he was a public safety officer. As a dispatcher, he received an award for "meritorious conduct." But during his time in the public works department, he was put on a monthlong probation for work performance, according to the city.
Oliver joined the Balch Springs police in 2011, and Texas Commission on Law Enforcement records show he received precision rifle training and took a class on the use of force.
His most recent training was a firearms course April 22 at the Police Department.
Oliver was suspended for 16 hours in 2013 after a complaint from the Dallas County District Attorney's office, according to personnel records obtained by The Associated Press.
The complaint was over his conduct toward people in the office and in court. The prosecutor's office said that in once instance, Oliver was aggressive, using vulgar language that resulted in staff asking a female intern to leave the room. The office said that he later swore when asked a question in the courtroom.
