Texas Cop Fired Two Days After Killing a Man During Pursuit

The Arlington, Texas, police department fired an officer Friday after he killed a man who had ignored his instructions to stop. Video released by the department showed Officer Robert Phillips responding to a call about a man—identified as Jesse Fischer—slumped over his steering wheel on a parkway on Wednesday. But when Phillips approached him, Fischer drove off. After another stop-and-go, Fischer turned onto a road with a cul-de-sac and turned around, approaching Phillips. That prompted him to fire his gun six times at Fischer, who died.

Phillips was fired for violating the department’s policy to not shoot at a non-harmful moving vehicle. “He could have backed up behind [his] vehicle and allowed the vehicle to go by,” Chief Al Jones said. “He could have stayed in his vehicle so he didn’t put himself in a situation where he had to use deadly force. So there’s a number of options that he could have used.” A union representative called the decision “hasty,” which Jones acknowledged. “I don’t think we’ve ever fired anybody in two days,” Jones said, but he noted he did a full review of the case’s facts.