White Texas cop charged with murder in shooting death of Black man allegedly breaking up fight
A white Texas police officer has been charged with murder in the fatal shooting of a 31-year-old Black man who was allegedly trying to stop a domestic assault at a gas station.
Wolfe City police officer Shaun Lucas, already under suspension, was arrested Monday and booked into the Hunt County Jail on a $1 million bond, then transferred to another facility, according to jail records.
Lucas responded to a call Saturday around 8:30 p.m. about a “possible fight in progress” in Wolfe City and almost immediately tried to detain Jonathan Price, who “resisted in a non-threatening posture and began walking away,” according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.
The officer used his Taser on Price, then shot him.
A lawyer hired by Price’s family said he had intervened when he saw a man assaulting a woman and tried to stop the attack. When police arrived, Price allegedly held up his hands and tried to explain the situation.
“Police fired tasers at him and when his body convulsed from the electrical current, they ‘perceived a threat’ and shot him to death,” S. Lee Merritt said in a statement.
Price was unarmed, according to Merritt, and police have not released any information on possible weapons.
A former college football player at Hardin-Simmons University and a community motivational speaker, Price was described as a “hometown hero.”
“I want to see the man get what’s coming to him for killing my son,” his father, Junior Price, told WFAA Monday before Lucas’ arrest.
The Texas Rangers said Monday that their preliminary investigation “indicates that the actions of Officer Lucas were not objectionably reasonable.”
Merritt called the arrest “step one.”
“This didn’t happen quickly. It should have happened the day he murdered JP. John should still be here,” the attorney said in a statement.
“This did happen because this family fought for their son from the beginning and people worked hard both behind the scenes and in the public eye to make it happen.”