Texas Police Officer Placed on Leave After Pulling Gun on Unarmed Teens at Pool Party
A white Texas police officer has been removed from duty after video emerged over the weekend of him pointing his revolver at a group of unarmed black teens gathered at a McKinley pool party.
According to Mashable, police were called to the majority white neighborhood where blacks comprise only about 10 percent of the population by reports of a disturbance at the Craig Ranch North Community Pool just after 7 p.m.
The video shows an unidentified officer "running, tripping and falling, then running again" in pursuit of several of the teens. Before long, he can be seen wrestling a female teen to the ground face first, even though the video doesn't appear to show her representing any sort of threat to any of the officers. He then sits on her back and quickly pulls his gun on the emerging and concerned crowd.
Later, authorities partly posted on the department's Facebook page, "On June 5, 2015 at approximately 7:15 p.m., officers from the McKinney Police Department responded to a disturbance at the Craig Ranch North Community Pool. The initial call came in as a disturbance involving multiple juveniles at the location, who do not live in the area or have permission to be there, refusing to leave."
The post goes on to add that police received several more calls related to the incident, some of them indicating that an actual fight had now broken out at the scene. Upon arriving, officers claimed several people refused to comply with demands and at least nine additional units had to be called to the scene.
Authorities also claim department officials only became aware of the video at a later time and are now studying it for further clarity as to all that may have transpired. In the meantime, the officer in question has been placed on administrative leave.
Multiple witnesses told CBS that the fight which broke out appeared to be between juveniles and some adults. Once officers arrived on the scene, one of them can be observed on the video screaming at several youths "to get to the ground."
Witnesses added the 14-year-old girl who was restrained did not immediately walk away, instead informing the officer "they did nothing wrong."
On the tape the girl can be heard screaming, "I want to call my mom" as she is taken to the ground and handcuffed.
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