Texas officer faces manslaughter charge in neighbour's death

A white Dallas police officer who says she mistook her black neighbour's apartment for her own when she fatally shot him was arrested on a manslaughter charge.

Officer Amber Guyger was booked into the Kaufman County Jail after being taken into custody Sunday, the Texas Department of Public Safety said in a news release.

The department said the investigation in the off-duty shooting is ongoing and that no additional information was available.

A jail employee said Guyger was released on bond.

Guyger fatally shot 26-year-old Botham Jean on Thursday at Jean's apartment.

Lawyers for Jean's family had been calling for Guyger's arrest, saying the fact that she had remained free days after the shooting showed she was receiving favorable treatment.

They held a news conference Sunday night, shortly before the arrest was announced, making another plea for the officer to be taken into custody and saying their team had presented new evidence a witness and video footage to prosecutors. They didn't provide details.

The family's attorneys were not available to comment after the arrest came.

On Saturday, one of the attorneys, S Lee Merritt, said the man's loved ones were not calling on authorities to jump to conclusions or to deny Guyger her right to due process.

But he said they wanted Guyger "to be treated like every other citizen, and where there is evidence that they've committed a crime, that there's a warrant to be issued and an arrest to be made."
Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings tweeted a statement Sunday night in which he thanked investigators, asked for continued prayers for Jean's family and said he appreciated that citizens and community leaders "were so respectful of the investigative process over these past few days."
He described Jean as an "amazing individual" and said that "if the grand jury deems necessary, this officer should have to answer for her actions in a court of law in Dallas County."
"Botham did everything with passion," Allison Jean told the prayer service. "God gave me an angel."