Police in US found guilty of shot dead unarmed African American teenager

NEWS24.CO.ID - A police officer in Texas, United States (US) was found guilty of the murder of a 15-year-old African American teenager. This guilty verdict is considered rare in the case of US police shooting. Disclosed in a trial held on Tuesday, on August 28th 2018 local time, Roy Oliver, used a rifle and fired five shots at the car carrying Edwards and his friends. The shots killed Edwards which hit him on the head.

As reported by AFP on Wednesday, August 29th 2018, white police named Roy Oliver was convicted by a Texas court jury, for shooting dead a black teenager named Jordan Edwards. Oliver was fired from his job by the local police.

This incident began when Oliver received a report about a number of minors drinking alcohol at a party held in the suburbs of Dallas, Texas last year. At that time, Edward and his four unarmed friends were leaving the party.

The jury in Texas trial declared Oliver guilty of murder but not guilty of two counts of assault. The penalty for Oliver has not been announced by the local court. But it is known that for murder charges, Oliver will face a sentence between 5 to 99 years in prison.

The victim's family welcomed this guilty verdict against Oliver. While crying, Edwards' family hugged each other after the guilty verdict was read. "I am happy, very happy," said Edwards' father, Odell, to reporters.