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DALLAS (AP) – Authorities are seeking a manslaughter warrant for a Dallas police officer who shot dead a neighbor after she said she took her apartment on her own account, the police said on Friday.
What the officer was able to say to Botham Jean, 26, after his late return on Thursday, was not clear. But given the investigators' current knowledge of the case, they decided to pursue a case of manslaughter, the police said.
"Right now, there are more questions than we have answers," said Police Chief U. Renee Hall at a press conference Friday afternoon. She said that she spoke to Jean's sister to express her condolences to the family.
It was also unclear whether the officer was in detention. Hall said that she did not know where the officer was, whose name was not disclosed.
According to the police, the officer returned home in uniform after her shift. She called the dispatch to report that she had shot a man, and she later told the police who responded that she believed that the victim's apartment was hers when she was killed. she went in there.
Officers who responded to the questionnaire administered first aid to John, a native of the Caribbean country of Saint Lucia, who attended a college in Arkansas and worked for the PwC accounting and consulting firm. Jean was taken to a hospital where he died.
Hall said that the blood of the agent was taken to be tested for drugs and alcohol. She declined to speculate on whether fatigue or other factors could have been taken into account in the filming. She also said the Texas Rangers would conduct an independent investigation.
John grew up in St. Lucia and attended Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas, where he specialized in accounting and information systems and often led campus worship services. before graduating in 2016, said the school in a statement. In July, he went to work for PwC in risk insurance. The company said in a statement that it was "simply heartbroken to hear his death."
Family and friends have described John as a dedicated Christian and talented singer. His uncle Ignatius Jean said that the assassination had left loved ones devastated and sought answers.
"You want to think that it's fiction … and you have to tackle the reality," he said.
He called Jean a "brilliant" man of "irreproachable character" and said that news of his death had spread to the small island nation of Saint Lucia.
"Botham was in the prime of life," said his uncle.
Nathan Monan, a friend of Harding University, said that Botham Jean was kind to everyone and that he often led people singing during the private university chapel in Arkansas.
"He lived what he talked about," said Monan, adding that Jean's death has aroused overwhelming emotions of sadness and anger. "It does not make sense to anyone right now."
A YouTube video released in 2014 shows that Jean makes his speech to become the president of the university student association.
"I want to serve," he says in the video. "My difficult experience has really inspired me to want to serve and I want every Harding student to have the best experience possible."
The authorities did not say how the officer had entered Jean's house or whether his door was open or not. The apartment complex is a few blocks from the Dallas Police Headquarters.
Resort residents stated that they could access their units with a key or keypad code.
Jeffrey Scherzer, who lives there, said that when he returned home after the shooting, a police officer escorted him to his apartment and warned him not to to be dragged into a trail of blood.
Two women living on the second floor, near where the shooting took place, said they heard a lot of noise late Thursday.
Caitlin Simpson, 20, told the Dallas Morning News.
Yazmine Hernandez, 20, was studying with Simpson when they heard the commotion.
"We heard cops screaming, but we had no idea what was going on," Hernandez said.
Lawyer Lee Merritt, who has been involved in high-profile cases in North Texas, said Friday that the officer should have already been arrested, just like any other person in the same situation.
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Associated Press writers Jamie Stengle and David Warren contributed to this report.
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For the latest information on filming: https://www.apnews.com/5418f50edde448e79f16be75178bea6a.
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