A Dallas police officer accused of shooting and killing her black neighbor reportedly explained her actions by claiming the apartment door was open before she shot at him. A recently-revealed video, according to a neighbor, contradicts the statement since the metal fire doors at the apartment complex automatically shut if no one or nothing holds the doors open.
According to the video provided to DailyMail.com by an unnamed resident who lives in the same Dallas high-rise apartment complex where 26-year-old Botham Jean was killed, suspected shooter Amber Guyge, 30, wouldn’t have walked to an open door without someone or something holding it open. The doors at the South Side Flats apartment complex, as seen in the video, are “fire doors” that automatically close unless someone puts an object in place to hold it ajar or someone holds it open.
According to Guyger’s reported version of events, she walked up to what she thought was her own apartment on September 6 and became alarmed when she found the door ajar. The off-duty officer said she thought a burglary was in progress and pulled out her weapon. She claimed when Jean ignored her “verbal commands,” she shot him, then later turned the lights on and realized she was not in her own apartment.
“These are fire doors. You can’t really leave it open,” the neighbor said.
In another reported contradiction, the arrest affidavit for Guyger claimed she opened the apartment door with her key and saw a “large silhouette” inside the apartment, according to the Star-Telegram. The neighbor indicated that would have been impossible as well.
“The key situation too – you can’t get into any place, you can’t. It’s impossible. You can put it in but you can’t open it. You can put it into somebody else’s key hole but you can’t open anything. This key isn’t programmed for my door – if I put it in, nothing happens apart from this red light.”
A witness at the apartment complex said they heard a female say, “Let me in! Let me in!” before hearing gunshots fired.
“I guess he must have opened the door and she saw a black man inside what she thought was her apartment and so she went ahead and shot him,” another tenant in the apartment complex said.
Guyger turned herself in three days after the shooting took place. She was charged with manslaughter and released after she made her $300,000 bail.
The story continues to develop. Check back with CrimeOnline as additional details become available.
[Feature Photo: Botham Jean/Facebook; Amber Guyger/Kaufman County Sheriff’s Office]
