The Arlington, Texas, police officer involved in the fatal shooting of 19-year-old Christian Taylor was fired Tuesday by the police chief for "exercising poor judgment."
According to NBC News, Arlington Police Officer Brad Miller, 49, used deadly force on the unarmed Taylor during a reported break-in at the Classic Buick GMC dealership at 1:06 a.m. Friday.
Authorities note that Miller was still in training when he arrived on the scene with his training officer, Cpl. Dale Wiggins. Miller was told to establish a perimeter so that they could assess the situation. Arlington Police Chief Will Johnson told reporters Tuesday that Miller abandoned the orders he was given and entered the dealership after seeing that a truck had been driven through the window. Johnson says that this action set in motion a chain of events that put the officers' lives in jeopardy.
Miller claims that after he entered the dealership, he encountered Taylor and believed that he was going to be overpowered. The news station notes that his training officer was only 4 feet away when he fired his weapon.
"This fear and feeling of isolation was the result of his poor decision to enter the building without assistance and without an arrest plan," Johnson said.
"This is an extraordinarily difficult case," Johnson said. "Decisions were made that have catastrophic outcomes."
The investigation into the shooting is ongoing, but the news station notes that a criminal investigation could take weeks.
The Arlington Municipal Patrolman's Association released a statement Tuesday noting that the decision to fire Miller may have been premature.
"The Arlington Municipal Patrolman's Association supports Officer Miller's right to be judged fairly and completely on facts instead of a snapshot developed in only days," the statement viewed by NBC News read. "Investigations take time and as Chief Johnson acknowledged, this investigation is not close to being concluded.
"With that said, our thoughts and prayers are with the Taylor family in this time of grief," the statement continued. "We again ask that citizens obey the commands of police officers in order to prevent these tragedies from occurring in the future."
Read more at NBC News.