Attorney: Bodycam Shows Jonathan Price Grabbed Cop’s Taser Before He Was Shot

Wolfe City, TX – An attorney for the Wolfe City police officer who fatally shot 31-year-old Jonathan Price said bodycam video showed Price was trying to take the officer’s Taser when he was shot.

Wolfe City Police Officer Shaun Lucas was arrested on Monday and charged with murder for the officer-involved shooting of Price at the Kwik Chek in rural Hunt County on Oct. 3, KDFW reported.

Price’s family have claimed he intervened in a domestic dispute between another couple at the gas station and was shot by police who arrived to break up that fight.

The bodycam video and footage from security cameras at the gas station have not yet been released to the public, but the charging documents detailed what could be seen on Officer Lucas’s bodycam video.

Texas Rangers filed a complaint on Oct. 5 charging Officer Lucas with Price’s murder that said the entire incident had been captured on bodycam, KDFW reported.

The officer’s bodycam video is described in great detail in the complaint and said that Price appeared to be grabbing the end of Officer Lucas’s Taser when he was shot.

The complaint said the dispatcher told Officer Lucas that he was responding to a call for “a possible fight in progress” at the Kwik Chek the night of the shooting.

According to the complaint, Price greeted Officer Lucas in a friendly manner initially and extended his hand to shake.

He apologized for broken glass on the ground and told Officer Lucas that someone had tried “to wrap me up,” according to the charging documents.

The officer told investigators that he thought Price was intoxicated and tried to detain him.

The charging documents said “Price stated, ‘I can’t be detained,’” KDFW reported.

“Officer Lucas continued to attempt to detain Price by grabbing Price’s arms and using verbal commands, which were both unsuccessful,” the affidavit read. “Officer Lucas produced a taser and informed Price to comply or the taser would be applied. Price failed to comply and began to walk away. Officer Lucas deployed the taser which was not fully effective. While being tased, Price continued to walk toward Officer Lucas.”

“Price appeared to reach out and grab the end of Officer Lucas’ taser,” the complaint continued to describe the contents of the officer’s bodycam video. “Officer Lucas discharged his firearm four times striking Price in the upper torso.”

Price was pronounced dead at Hunt County Regional Hospital, according to the affidavit filed by a Texas Rangers’ investigator.

The complaint also said the charges against the officer had been based on video and physical evidence, as well as eyewitness testimony, that showed Officer Lucas knowingly and intentionally caused Price’s death, KDFW reported.

But lawyers for the rookie 22-year-old Wolfe City officer said in a statement that “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.”

“After Mr. Price refused repeated instructions and physically resisted, Officer Lucas deployed his Taser and continued to give Mr. Price instructions,” attorney Robert Rogers, who is representing the officer, said. “Mr. Price resisted the effects of the Taser and attempted to take it away from Officer Lucas.”

Rogers is the same attorney who defended former Dallas Police Officer Amber Guyger when she was convicted of the murder of Botham Jean in October of 2019.

The Texas Rangers have headed up the investigation into the officer-involved shooting of Price and said they determined Officer Lucas’s actions were not “objectionably reasonable.”

Investigators said Price resisted “in a non-threatening posture” and was walking away when Officer Lucas Tased him, according to KDFW.

Officer Lucas was sworn into the Wolfe City Police Department in March, WFAA reported.

Prior to that, he worked for five months as a detention officer for the Hunt County Sheriff’s Office.

On Monday, Officer Lucas was arrested and booked into the Hunt County Jail and then transferred to the Rockwall County Jail because he had previously worked in Hunt County’s.

He was released hours later on a $1 million bond.

Texas Commission on Law Enforcement records showed that Officer Lucas had been certified after training that included 667 hours of Basic Peace Officer training, including a week of “Crisis Intervention Training,” WFAA reported.

Records also showed Officer Lucas got eight hours of additional training on usage of a “Less Lethal Electronic Control Device.”

Price’s family’s attorneys have called for the release of all the bodycam and security video for the sake of transparency, WFAA reported.