Jean Botham [left] was shot and killed inside his apt by neighbor, Dallas police officer Amber Guyger, [right], on Sept 6, 2018

The family of a 26-year-old black man killed by a former Dallas police officer in his own apartment filed a lawsuit against that city and the cop who shot him.

Amber Guyger, then a Dallas police officer admitted to killing Botham Jean on Sept. 6 in his South Side Flats apartment unit,which is located exactly one floor above her own. The officer, fresh off a 13-hour shift and still wearing her uniform, said she mistakenly entered the apartment thinking it was her own and then fired off two shots in the ‘dark’ apartment at Jean, who she believed to be a burglar, Guyger said.

Botham Jean’s family claims he was fatally shot by a White cop neighbor, due to a “pattern, practice history and custom of using excessive force against minorities, including approaching them with guns drawn.” by the Dallas police dept

Related: Is she lying? Inconsistencies in tale from White Dallas cop who shot dead her black neighbor in his apartment

A federal lawsuit filed Friday alleges Guyger used excessive force in shooting Jean and ultimately violated his constitutional rights. It also contends the police department did not adequately train Guyger and claims Dallas Police Chief U. Renee Hall, the City Council and the city manager “failed to implement and enforce such policies, practices and procedure” that would have protected Jean.

“By simply following proper police procedures and the best police practices and not the protocol of the DPD to ‘shoot first and ask questions later,’ Defendant Guyger would have not shot Jean,” the lawsuit argues.

“Essentially Officer Guyger was ill-trained, and as a result, defaulted to the defective DPD policy: to use deadly force even when there exist no immediate threat of harm to themselves or others.”

Guyger could have walked back out of the apartment and called for back-up. Instead, she opted to use her service weapon.

Former Dallas Police Department officer Amber Guyger has denied there was  malicious intent behind the incident, instead she was a startled resident trying to protect what she believed to be her home

Amber Guyger [seen on the phone after the shooting], walked  up a floor above her own to shoot upstairs neighbor, Botham Jean at his apt, on Sept 6. She claims she arrived thinking it was hers. The door was ajar. Neighbors have disputed her claims that she opened the door and found Jean standing in the dark. They say they heard a woman knocking on the door and shouting ‘let me in’  before shooting the person at the door

The suit argues it’s part of a widespread problem for Dallas police officers, who have demonstrated a “pattern, practice history and custom of using excessive force against minorities, including approaching them with guns drawn.”

Guyger, 30, turned herself a day after the shooting and was charged with manslaughter. She was also later fired from the police department.

In an arrest affidavit prepared by a Texas Ranger, Guyger denied there was any malicious intent in the incident and instead claimed she was a startled resident trying to protect what she believed to be her home. The door to Jean’s apartment was ajar when she arrived around 10 p.m. and the former officer failed to realize she was not in her own apartment unit.
When she saw a figure approaching her in the dark, she pulled out her gun and fired, according to the document.
Related: White Texas cop who shot Black neighbor is charged with manslaughter

Allison Jean, Bothams’s mom, insists Amber Guyger is yet to come clean on the chain of events on the day her son was murdered inside his own apt

Botham Jean’s family is seeking answers. They have filed a wrongful death suit against the city and the former police officer who shot him inside his home

The attorney representing Jean’s family, Lee Merritt, has repeatedly cast doubt on the Guyger’s version of events. He has said he has two independent witnesses that told him they heard knocking on Jean’s door ahead of the gunfire.

The lawsuit additionally questions how Guyger did not notice she was on the wrong floor and the in the wrong apartment. Jean lived on the fourth floor while she lived on the third.

Jean had a red mat in front of his door while Guyger did not.

What’s more, the lawsuit argues Guyger should have recognized that her key did not chime when she inserted it into the electronic lock, as it would have if it were her own apartment.

“The door would have not produced the identical chime Defendant Guyger hears daily at her apartment, which would indicate to a reasonable police officer that she had entered her key in to the wrong keyhole if that is indeed what happened,” the suit reads.

“In fact, the light above the keyhole would have flashed red, indicating to Defendant Guyger that her key did not match the lock when she was attempting to access.”