Black city worker extended a handshake and said 'you doing good' to white Texas cop moments before he was shot dead outside a gas station - as it emerges the officer had been in the job less than SIX MONTHS
Black city worker Jonathan Price extended a handshake to the white Texas cop and asked him 'you doing good?' moments before the officer shot him dead outside a gas station, according to a probable cause affidavit released Wednesday.
The affidavit, obtained by CBS 11 News, describes how Wolfe City Police Officer Shaun David Lucas, 22, did 'intentionally and knowingly cause the death of Price' when he fired four shots at the unarmed black man Saturday night, as he was reportedly trying to break up a domestic incident.
Lucas was arrested and charged with murder Monday by the Texas Rangers and had his bail set at $1 million.
It has since emerged that Lucas had been in the job on the all-white force less than six months at the time of the fatal shooting.
Price's death tops off a string of police killings of black men and women across America in recent months which have sparked nationwide protests demanding an end to police brutality and racism.
Black city worker Jonathan Price (pictured) extended a handshake to the white Texas cop and asked him 'you doing good?' multiple times moments before the officer shot him dead outside a gas station, according to a probable cause affidavit released Wednesday
New details have now emerged about the moments leading up to the deadly encounter.
According to the affidavit written by Texas Ranger Laura Simmons, Price offered a handshake multiple times to Lucas before the rookie cop shot him dead.
It also reveals that the entire encounter between the two men was captured on bodycam footage.
The footage has not been publicly released but was used to determine what charges to bring against the officer.
Lucas responded to a call of a 'possible fight in progress' at a 'Kwik Chek' convenience store around 8:30 p.m. Saturday night, according to the affidavit.
When Lucas arrived on the scene and got out of his police vehicle, Price greeted him coming 'very close to Officer Lucas asking "you doing good" multiple times while extending his hand in a handshake gesture,' the affidavit reveals.
Price also apologized to the officer about broken glass on the ground at the scene saying someone had tried to 'wrap me up,' it says.
The affidavit, obtained by CBS 11 News, describes how Wolfe City Police Officer Shaun David Lucas, 22, (pictured) did 'intentionally and knowingly cause the death of Price'
Lucas fired four shots at unarmed black man Price (pictured) Saturday night, as Price was reportedly trying to break up a domestic incident
Lucas then tried to detain Price - allegedly thinking he was drunk - by grabbing his arms and using verbal commands, according to the affidavit.
Price reportedly told Lucas: 'I can't be detained.'
At this moment, Lucas pulled out his taser and told Price to comply with his orders, the affidavit states.
Price walked away from the officer and Lucas fired his taser at him, it says.
The affidavit says the taser was 'not fully effective' and Price walked back toward Lucas and appeared 'to reach out and grab the end of Officer Lucas' taser.'
At this point, Lucas shot Price four times in the upper torso.
Price was rushed to hospital where he died of his injuries.
The Texas Rangers said video evidence, physical evidence, and eyewitness testimony proved that Lucas did 'intentionally and knowingly cause the death of Price'.
The new details come as it has emerged Lucas joined Wolfe City Police Department as a police officer in April - less than six months before the fatal shooting.
The aftermath of the shooting was captured on a Facebook Live video by a bystander
Records from the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement show the 22-year-old previously worked as a jailer with the Hunt County Sheriff's Department for five months before joining the force, reported NBC News.
Wolfe City Police Department serves a community of about 1,400 in the small city northeast of Dallas.
It has just six officers, who are all white and aged between 22 and 40.
Lee Merritt, an attorney for the victim's family, said he believes race was a factor in his killing.
Merritt said Price, a fitness trainer and employee in the city's public works department, had intervened when he saw a 'man assaulting a woman.'
Price's family is calling for the bodycam footage of the shooting to be released.
Robert Rogers, an attorney for Lucas who also represented white Dallas ex-cop Amber Guyger who murdered her black neighbor in his own apartment, said in a statement Tuesday Lucas had fired his weapon 'in accordance with Texas law' after Price reached for his taser.
He said Price 'did not claim to be an uninvolved, innocent party' when the cop arrived on the scene and that he repeatedly 'physically resisted' arrest.
A candlelight vigil in Texas Monday for Price. It has since emerged that Lucas had been in the job on the all-white force less than six months at the time of the fatal shooting
The affidavit says the full encounter was captured on bodycam. Price's family are calling for the bodycam to be released
The Texas Rangers said Price resisted in 'a nonthreatening posture and began walking away' and that the initial investigation reveals 'the actions of Officer Lucas were not objectionably reasonable.'
Lucas was immediately placed on administrative leave following the shooting and was arrested for murder Monday.
He was first booked into Hunt County Jail and then transferred to Rockwall County.
On Wednesday, he was transferred again to Collin County Jail.
Price's family and members of the Hunt County District Attorney's Office were scheduled to meet Wednesday.
The meeting was reportedly postponed until Thursday for unknown reasons.
DA Noble Walker said Tuesday he plans to have a grand jury decide whether to formally indict Lucas for Price's murder.
Price has been described as a pillar of the community who acted as a mentor and motivational speaker.
A former athlete who also played football for Humboldt State University, he was employed by the city in its public works department and also worked as a fitness trainer.
Protests erupted this week following his death, which marks the latest in a long line of cop killings of black men and women across America.
Price's death tops off a string of police killings of black men and women across America in recent months which have sparked nationwide protests demanding an end to police brutality and racism
People gather for a march, rally and candlelight vigil in honor of Price in Wolfe City Monday
Protests in LA over the death of Price. Price has been described as a pillar of the community who acted as a mentor and motivational speaker
Thousands have taken to the streets nationwide demanding justice and calling for an end to police brutality and racism since Memorial Day when black man George Floyd was murdered by a Minneapolis cop who knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes until he passed out and died.
Floyd's death reignited outrage over the death of EMT Breonna Taylor, 26, who was shot six times in March when three plain clothes officers performed a botched raid at her Louisville apartment.
Last month, a grand jury decided not to bring any charges against the three cops involved in her death, with only one officer charged in connection to the incident - not for Taylor's death but for wanton endangerment for shooting into a neighboring apartment.
In June, unarmed father Rayshard Brooks was shot dead while he ran from cops in the drive-thru of a Wendy's restaurant in Atlanta.
Then, in August, Jacob Blake was shot seven times in the back by a white cop in front of his three young children, leaving the father-of-six paralyzed from the waist down.
In early September, footage was released by the family of Daniel Prude, 41, showing cops in Rochester, New York, putting a spit hood over his face and pushing his face into the ground for two minutes until he passed out and died on March 23.
The Monroe County medical examiner listed the manner of death as homicide caused by 'complications of asphyxia in the setting of physical restraint' but no charges have been brought against any of the cops.
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