“This video was literally a smoking gun piece of evidence in this case.”
Wolfe City, TX — The tragic case of Jonathan Price shocked the country in October 2020 after the local hero was gunned down for reportedly helping a woman in need and breaking up a fight. Adding to the tragic nature of his death, before he was shot four times, body camera footage showed that he attempted to shake Officer Shaun Lucas’ hand multiple times.
Days after he killed Price, Lucas was charged with murder and his use of force was deemed “not reasonable” by the Texas Rangers. Despite the case against him, last week Lucas was acquitted on the charges. Now, a week after his acquittal, the footage from that fateful night has been released and it shows a travesty of justice.
“Unfortunately, the result that we saw from that jury simply doesn’t match what we see in the video,” attorney Lee Merritt said. “This video was literally a smoking gun piece of evidence in this case.”Merritt has now asked for the U.S. Department of Justice to review the cases for potential federal charges against Lucas.
According to the affidavit, Lucas was responding to a call of a “possible fight in progress” at a ‘Kwik Chek’ convenience store around 8:30 p.m. on Oct. 3, 2020. Texas Ranger Laura Simmons, who prepared Lucas’ arrest affidavit, noted that what happened next gave the department justification for charging the cop with murder.
The affidavit notes that when officer Lucas exited his patrol car, Price did not attempt to flee nor did he pose any threat whatsoever to the officer. Instead, Price greeted the officer. According to the video, Price “came very close to Officer Lucas asking ‘you doing good’ multiple times while extending his hand in a handshake gesture.”
“Stay right there, you understand me?” Lucas replied.
“You do this?” he asked pointing to broken glass on the ground.
Price apologized for the broken glass on the ground and said someone had tried to “wrap me up,” during the altercation in which Price reportedly tried to break up a dispute.
Very quickly, the situation took a turn for the worse.
As WFAA reports:
Lucas then tried to detain Price.
“I can’t be detained right now,” Price said.
Price can be seen walking away from Lucas. Lucas then pulled his taser and deployed it when Price didn’t comply.
The taser hit Price in the back, at which point he began to struggle — although he was still standing.
Lucas then told Price to get on the ground while approaching him. Price started moving slowly toward Lucas, who was still affected by the taser.
Price then raised his right hand toward the taser, and Lucas opened fire with his service weapon, striking Price four times.
Because Price had not committed a crime, he should have been free to go but he was not allowed. When his well-being was threatened by the officer, he simply acted to defend himself and was killed for it. The video of the interaction, physical evidence, and witness testimony led the Texas Rangers to determine that Officer Lucas “intentionally and knowingly caused the death of Price.”
It is important to point out that the charges against Lucas were brought in spite of the fact that the affidavit does not mention the scenario as told by eyewitnesses that Price was helping a woman out of a domestic violence situation.
The police union-appointed attorney for Lucas, Robert Rogers denies the officer did anything wrong and issued a statement this week praising the jury’s decision to acquit. After watching the video below, do you agree?
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