Texas cop fatally shoots Black man who was trying to break up a fight
A Wolfe City police officer, who has been put on leave, tased Jonathan Price before shooting him.
On Saturday night (Oct. 3), a police officer in Wolfe City, Texas fatally shot a Black man who had been trying to break up a fight. Police have not released any information about the shooting nor the victim’s name, but his friends and family have identified him as 31-year-old Jonathan Price.
The shooting occurred at a Kwik Check gas station at 103 Santa Fe Street. Witnesses say Price was intervening on a domestic violence situation between a man and a woman. When Price stepped in, witnesses say, the man assaulted him. Then, police arrived to the scene and used a taser on Price before shooting him.
One witness — Kyla Sanders — was at a store across the street during the incident and told WFAA she heard three gunshots.
“We were all in shock,” Sanders said. “Why would a cop shoot somebody?”
Sanders then ran over to the scene and realized the victim was Price, whom she knew.
“We all love him and think so highly of him and [he was] just the nicest guy you could ever meet,” she told the outlet. “We’re all devastated, shocked; we don’t really know what to do or where to go from here.”
Civil rights lawyer Lee Merritt, who said he spoke with Price’s family, posted about the shooting on Facebook.
“When police arrived, I’m told, he raised his hands and attempted to explain what was going on,” he wrote. “Police fired tasers at him and when his body convulsed from the electrical current, they ‘perceived a threat’ and shot him to death.”
Relatives and friends are now demanding justice for Price, who was a Wolfe City employee, trainer and mentor.
“Everybody loved Jonathan,” his sister, April Louis, said. “Everybody. Black, white, Mexican; it don’t matter.”
His mother, Marcella Louis, rushed out of bed to the gas station when she got a call about the shooting.
“They wouldn’t let me get close to my baby,” she told WFAA. “I just wanted to hold his hand and they wouldn’t let me do that. I just wanted to crawl over there to him.”
Price’s mother said she wasn’t surprised to hear he had stepped in to break up a fight: “That’s what he always did; tried to help others.”
“I taught him that all the years,” she said.
There are security cameras at the gas station and the business’ owners are expected to release a statement about the footage later today (Oct. 5). The Texas Rangers have opened an investigation into the shooting and the officer involved has been placed on paid administrative leave.