*The father of Jordan Edwards, the black 15-year-old honors student fatally shot while in a car that was driving away, has filed an excessive force lawsuit against the Dallas-area officer who shot him with a rifle.
Filed Friday at a federal district court in Dallas, the suit by Odell Edwards seeks undisclosed damages from former Balch Springs police officer Roy Oliver for shooting his son with a rifle, court papers showed.
“Defendant Oliver shot Edwards in the head in plain view of his brothers … with total disregard to the safety of others,” the lawsuit said.
It also named Balch Springs, a predominantly black and Hispanic city about 15 miles (25 km) from Dallas as a defendant. The lawsuit accuses the city of failing to properly train Oliver, a person plaintiffs described as having a short fuse and a history of abusive behavior toward citizens.
The lawsuit alleges the two brothers were subject to racist comments, and the brother who sat beside Edwards when he died was handcuffed at the scene but not charged with any crime.
“(The brother) was not given any explanation and could not understand why he was being treated like a criminal,” the lawsuit said.
Oliver, who is white, was charged on Friday with murder in the death.
Edwards, described by friends and family as a good student and athlete, was in the car with his two brothers, who watched him die, an Edwards family lawyer has said.
Oliver, 37, surrendered on Friday, hours after an arrest warrant had been issued and released on bond. He has not spoken publicly about the event.
The Balch Springs Police Department said on Tuesday it had dismissed Oliver for violating department policies. Police originally stated the car with the teens was moving toward the officer at the time of the shooting, but said later that a police body camera showed the car was moving away from Oliver when he shot at it.
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