Texas police officer charged with murder in shooting of 31-year-old Black man

Shaun Lucas, a police officer in Wolfe City, Texas, was arrested Monday and charged with the murder of Jonathan Price, a 31-year-old Black man, CNN reports.

The Texas Department of Public Safety said Lucas responded to a call about a possible fight Saturday evening and attempted to detain Price, who civil rights attorney Lee Merritt said was attempting to break up a domestic dispute in which another man was being "aggressive toward a woman." When Price "resisted in a non-threatening posture and began walking away" Lucas used his taser and then fired his gun, the department said. Price later died at a hospital.

A preliminary investigation has since determined Lucas' "actions were not (objectively) reasonable," the Texas DPS said in a statement. Subsequently, Texas Rangers booked Lucas into the Hunt County Jail.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Price's death comes on the heels of other high-profile incidents in which police officers killed Black Americans, including George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Rayshard Brooks. Their deaths have sparked protests against police brutality across the country. Read more at CNN.