Cop Enters Wrong Apartment, Kills Occupant, Says, "Oops, I thought this was my place."

Someone's white cop get out of prosecution for killing a unarmed black man card must have expired. I sure hope she renewed her white cop get out of jail free for killing a black man card.

maybe they don't give those out to female cops.

Hey, if I tried to profile these two by pictures alone, he looked like the upright cop type and she looked like the potential hoodlum. But maybe that's a reflection of which pictures they selected to show.

Full transcript of Amber Guyger's 911 call after shooting Botham Jean

Audio at the link.

So, I guess she thought it was her apartment?

it sounds like an honest mistake. Unfortunately an honest mistake with a gun can be fatal. That is part of the argument about carrying a firearm all the time. Maybe if she had to leave her firearm locked up in the barracks she would only have been really embarrassed.

Just....

In all seriousness when faced in such situations repeating a mantra like this is pretty common.

That said, from the transcript, it appears this was a HUGE but unfortunate mistake that could've been avoided if cops left their guns at work like Tererun mentioned. But after so many other malice and far grosser negligence cases, black folks are still gonna be angry when she walks.

^^^ She shouldn't walk though. There's no excuse for anyone, ever (whether cop or civilian) to go into the wrong apartment and shoot the (lawful) occupant.

I don't think she should get the Murder 1 rap, but certainly some form of manslaughter for sure.

This.

Sounds like it might just be a horrific mistake, after all. But a man is dead who shouldn't be, and she's got to be held accountable for that.

Off duty cops end up needing to respond to situations off duty too.

As several cops I know have said, there's no such thing as an "off-duty" cop.

And if you can't trust her with a gun off-duty, what makes you think you can trust her with one on?

Awfully bold of you to assume I trust cops

Has her toxology been made public?

Just the circumstances and the supposed mix up of what floor (not too mention some of her dialogue) strike me as something someone in a diminished capacity would wind up doing.

also, this part "No. No. Oh my god. I, I, How the [expletive] did I put the, how did, how did I [inaudible] I’m so tired.".

IIRC, she’d come home after putting in a shit ton of hours at work. Seems to me that there’s a serious problem with having police work excessive hours. How can you expect them to do their job properly if they’re exhausted.

Forget about them shooting someone by mistake, they can’t make a determination if someone should go to jail, collect evidence, write up a report, or even drive their car safely. If I were a defense attorney in that city, I’d be wanting to see the amount of hours a cop had been putting in before they busted my client.

And then many go on to work second jobs as security or in Seattle’s case (and I’m sure other places) hired by building owners to help get cars out of their garage.

Like truckers, all state security forces should have to maintain log books to help ensure proper rest.

pretty much true - they have powers of arrest at all times. And this being America in some cases that gun is all that keeps a suspect (or suspects) from trying something crazy like attacking the cop with deadly intentions when they are being detained or arrested.

hmmm......memories of my security guard days in Arizona. Our company policy was if we got pulled over by the cops for driving erratically from lack of sleep if we told the cops we just left work (of course we would we have our security guard uniform identifying our company) we were automatically fired. Is that some shady shit or what? One of the worse jobs I've ever had no doubt. Guarding a nuclear power plant with a .357? If somebody tries to attack a nuclear plant they will be armed for bear - what will I do with a .357?

Then again when I first joined the army I had to guard a riding horse stable with the fat end of a two-piece pool stick. Yeah, if you are bad ass enough to try to steal a horse off a military base, you might not be too intimidated from a 160 pound private with a pool stick.

I called it back in September:

I don't know what her apartment looks like, but if it is anything like some of them built today they all look the same. I have gotten off on the wrong floor of a hotel and gone on autopilot down the hall and tried to use my key in the wrong room number because I went on sight, and that is just from a day or two doing the same thing. I could see going to the wrong apartment on the wrong floor in some of these places while sober. I am not excusing the shooting first before anything else, but I could see it being an honest mistake.

She also did not sound terribly incoherent in the recording. She was startled and aware of what she had done. I did not hear any slurring of the words, just repetition which is a normal human reaction to a big fuck up. Maybe the adrenaline counteracted the alcohol effects, but I don't think she sounded all that out of it to be able to blame drunken idiocy.

umm... yeah.
i just said that in a lot fewer words i thought?
"the circumstances and the supposed mix up of what floor"

this part confuses me:

********
Operator: And what’s the gate code there?

Guyger: I don’t know. I don’t know.

Operator: You don’t know? OK?

Guyger: I thought it was my apartment.

**********

how did she get in there if she didn't know the code?

Probably couldn't remember because she was panicking and disoriented. I haven't listened to the recording but the transcript comes across as rambling and disjointed.

Reads like she’s drunk.

See Elwood’s post about working too many hours.

I have no idea the gate code at my gate because I have something in my car that is read by the gate to allow me in. Most gate security is pretty quick at letting in the authorities in the area. Plus most people I know who have automated gates in their apartment complex tell people to tailgate and they let everyone in who asks, or they go let people in themselves because they can never remember the gate code. It is not terribly odd.

Most places give you fobs and electronic devices to get in the gate. Plus, if you have a gate code to let people in it has to change every so often anyway because people give out the code to everyone and then it is worthless. Security is one of those things where it gets annoying to regular people the more of it you have. It is probably better to just not have a gate code in many places because some idiot is going to give it out to someone they get into a fight with and then you are going to have to change it for everyone or else be liable for the consequences if the ex uses it because you did not change it.

I'm not sure moving the bad apples to a different barrel is the responsible thing to do...

But it worked so well for the Christian church to move child molesting priests around.