Newly released police body camera video shows the moments that led up to the 2020 shooting death of Jonathan Price by former Wolfe City Officer Shaun Lucas.
An attorney for the family of Price, who died two years ago at the age of 31, shared the video of the shooting Wednesday.
Lucas, who is white, was found not guilty of murder in the death of Price, who is Black. Lucas was arrested in October 2020 after a Texas Rangers investigation stated that Lucas' actions "were not objectionably reasonable." He lost his job as an officer after that. He was charged with murder and acquitted last Thursday.
"I think the jury's verdict was against the weight of the evidence. It disagreed with the Texas Rangers who reviewed the case. It disagreed with the opinions of the Wolfe City experts who reviewed the case and terminated Mr. Shaun Lucas. It disagreed with every use of force expert that testified during the trial," said Civil Rights Attorney Lee Merritt, who is representing the estate of Price.
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He said they have asked the Department of Justice, particularly the Civil Rights Division, to begin reviewing the case and to pursue federal criminal charges against Lucas. Merritt said they also plan to move forward with a federal civil rights case against Wolfe City.
"I think prejudice played a role in acquitting this police officer," said Merritt about why they have reached out to the Department of Justice.
WHAT LED UP TO THE SHOOTING
Two years ago, Lucas was responding to reports of a possible fight at a convivence store in Wolfe City.
"Jonathan Price was entering a store at the same time another patron was exiting. That patron didn't like how Jonathan was coming, he initiated a pushing match, pushing match was broken up in 5 seconds," said Merritt who also noted that Price was intoxicated after spending the evening with friends.
The bodycam that the former officer wore captured the encounter with Price, who was wearing a green shirt, which lasted less than two minutes before the shooting.
In the video, Price is seen walking up to the former officer reaching out to shake his hand and greeting him by asking, "What's going on brother? You good?"
Lucas replied by telling Price, "Back up, stand right there, you understand me?"
Price then asked again if Lucas was "good" and said, "I hope you have a good night tonight."
"His demeanor was not one of someone who was intimidated by the presence of the officer. He came up; he extended his hand. He said he hoped he had a great night because Jonathan Price was pro-law enforcement, he had some critical opinions about the Black Lives Matter movement, about the idea that officers are often targeted unfairly, by Black Lives Matter and other police reform activists when they're just out there trying to do their job," said Merritt in regards to explaining Price's gesture.
In the video, Price mentioned the shattered glass on the ground and said, "I'm sorry about the broken glass right here."
Lucas then asked, "You did this?" to which Price responded with, "I didn't do this, but he tried to wrap me up and [expletive]."
The former officer then asked Price to turn around so he could detain him.
"I can't be detained right now. I cant," replied Price, who is seen walking away as Lucas pulled out his stun gun.
When Price didn't comply, Lucas used the stun gun. A bystander in the background can be heard saying, ''Hey, that was uncalled for, bro."
Price didn't fall down but stumbled as he was being stunned.
"Get on the ground, now!" shouted Lucas.
Within a few seconds, Price is seen walking toward Lucas and sticking his right arm out. Lucas pulled out his firearm and shot four rounds, striking Price.
There was much commotion afterward as people were shocked as to what happened.
"What you actually see in that video is that he passively reaches towards the officer as any reasonable person would do when they're being electrocuted. He reached toward the item that was electrocuting him and that reach cannot represent a deadly threat," said Merritt.
Lucas' defense attorneys argued in court that Price was trying to take the former officer's Taser.
In response to the released video, Robert L Rogers, one of his defense attorneys, said in a statement:
“The bodyworn camera footage shows Shaun give 20 loud, clear commands while exhausting all reasonable force options to gain compliance. Tragically, when Mr. Price grabbed his Taser, Shaun had no other options. The jury reviewed and analyzed this same video when they acquitted Shaun.”
Merritt said he believes race played a factor in the jury's decision.
“The jury in Hunt County was an all-white jury, that often has a difficult time in rural areas for prosecuting police officers," he said. "Think there was a failure on the part of the prosecution to present Jonathan price as a human being. We didn't hear much about Jonathan Price, his character. We didn't hear much about Jonathan Price in terms of his contributions to the city."
Merritt said Price was a football star, well known, liked, and worked for the city.
"He did not believe that an unarmed black man would be targeted simply because of his race. He didn't believe that he was more likely to suffer brutality than other folks because of his skin color and obviously, that belief did not change the reality of his experience," said Merritt.
Lucas, who was 22 at the time of the shooting, became an officer with Wolfe City six months prior and was new to town.
Merritt said Price's family is heartbroken and has to relive the situation.
"Last week, their hearts were broken when a jury determined that Shaun Lucas was not responsible for the death of Jonathan Price, and now that video is circulating the internet, people are expressing their opinions about it. People are adding sort of insult to injury by outlining a couple of things, outlining the fact that Jonathan Price was a supporter of law enforcement and some people have said, 'Well, he got what he deserved,' because the feelings are so strong. against law enforcement and other people are saying, 'you know that the officer was justified,' and that that's going to be a difficult thing for any family to have to relive over and over," said Merritt.
