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Unarmed Teenager Killed By Police In Texas Is Former OU Football Player's Younger Brother

Arlington Police Chief Will Johnson says he's troubled by some of the actions taken by police at the car dealership where Christian Taylor was fatally shot.
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Arlington Police Chief Will Johnson says he's troubled by some of the actions taken by police at the car dealership where Christian Taylor was fatally shot.

The unarmed college football player shot to death by a police officer in a Dallas-Fort Worth suburb has an Oklahoma tie. 19-year-old Christian Taylor was fatally shot by an Arlington police officer who responded to a burglary call at a car dealership Friday morning.

The Oklahoman reports he's the younger brother of former University of Oklahoma football player Adrian Taylor, who played defensive tackle for the Sooners from 2006 to 2010. He told Dallas television station WFAA his brother was an accomplished athlete, and the family wants to know what happened before the altercation:

Adrian Taylor says his youngest brother had plenty going right for him. He says he was an accomplished student athlete in football and track and a young man of faith. Taylor says that's why the fact his brother ended up smashing the windshield of a car at an Arlington dealership early Friday all the more puzzling. "Kid made a mistake and it cost him dearly, no one should have to go out that way," Taylor said.

Arlington Police Chief Will Johnson said Tuesday the officer who shot Taylor has been fired. He said it's up to the district attorney to decide whether officer Brad Miller's actions were criminal.

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Brian Hardzinski is from Flower Mound, Texas and a graduate of the University of Oklahoma. He began his career at KGOU as a student intern, joining KGOU full time in 2009 as Operations and Public Service Announcement Director. He began regularly hosting Morning Edition in 2014, and became the station's first Digital News Editor in 2015-16. Brian’s work at KGOU has been honored by Public Radio News Directors Incorporated (PRNDI), the Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters, the Oklahoma Associated Press Broadcasters, and local and regional chapters of the Society of Professional Journalists. Brian enjoys competing in triathlons, distance running, playing tennis, and entertaining his rambunctious Boston Terrier, Bucky.
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