It Began With A Handshake Attempt, Statement Details Moments Before Wolfe City Police Officer Shot Jonathan Price
WOLFE CITY, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) - The scene outside a East Texas convenience store began with a handshake being offered to a police officer. It ended with Jonathan Price dying after being shot four times.
A probable cause affidavit, obtained by CBS 11 News, details the moments before Wolfe City police officer Shaun Lucas shot Price.
The court papers show that Officer Lucas was responding to a call of a "possible fight in progress" at a 'Kwik Chek' convenience store around 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, October 3.
Texas Ranger Laura Simmons, who prepared the affidavit laying out the department's justification for charging Lucas with murder, noted that the entire encounter between the two men was captured on body worn camera.
According to the affidavit, when Officer Lucas got out of his vehicle, he was greeted by Price, who "came very close to Officer Lucas asking 'you doing good' multiple times while extending his hand in a handshake gesture."
Simmons says, Price apologized for broken glass on the ground and said someone had tried to "wrap me up,".
The affidavit then details how Officer Lucas believed Price was drunk and tried to detain him, by grabbing his arms and using verbal commands. Simmons says, Price replied, "I can't be detained."
Officer Lucas then pulled out his taser and warned Price to comply. According to the affidavit, Price responded by walking away. It was then that Lucas fired his taser, which Simmons noted was "not fully effective".
Price, she wrote, then walked toward the officer "appearing to reach out and grab the end of Officer Lucas' taser." Lucas then fired his gun 4 times, hitting Price in the upper torso.
The Texas Rangers said that based on video evidence, physical evidence, and eye witness testimony they determined that Officer Lucas "intentionally and knowingly cause the death of Price."
Video footage of the encounter has not been publicly released.
There have claims from the day of the shooting that Price was in the parking lot trying to help a woman out of a domestic violence situation, but there was no mention of that purported situation in the affidavit.
An attorney representing Officer Lucas -- Robert Rogers -- issued a statement Tuesday that said, in part, "Officer Lucas only discharged his weapon in accordance with Texas law when he was confronted with an aggressive assailant who was attempting to take his taser."
Lucas, who has been placed on administrative leave, was arrested on October 5 and charged with murder.
Lucas was first booked into Hunt County Jail and then transferred to Rockwall County. On Wednesday, he was transferred to Collin County Jail.
A meeting between Jonathan Price's family and members of the Hunt County District Attorney's Office was scheduled to take place today, but has reportedly been postponed until October 8.
