AUSTIN, Texas — Austin Officer Christopher Taylor has been indicted for murder in the 2020 shooting death of Mike Ramos, and a warrant has been issued for his arrest.
Officer Taylor has been in headlines since Ramos’ death on April 24, 2020.
Taylor and other officers responded to a parking lot near East Oltorf Street and South Pleasant Valley Road in southeast Austin after a 911 caller reported two people doing drugs in a car. The caller said one person was holding a gun. Later, detectives could not find a gun in the car.
Ramos did not comply with officers’ commands before a less-lethal “bean bag” shotgun was fired. He was then shot. Ramos was pronounced dead at a hospital.
In July 2020, the APD released an edited video, which shows different angles of the moments leading to the deadly shooting. Up until then, the public had only seen a cell phone video of the incident.
Who is Christopher Taylor, the Austin officer who shot, killed Mike Ramos?
Taylor was the Austin police officer who fired his rifle at Ramos, striking and killing the 42-year-old. Before the release of the edited video, in early May, Officer Taylor requested that the court prohibit law enforcement from releasing the video to the public. His attorneys later said they withdrew that request.
The officer has been with the Austin Police Department since December 2014.
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Taylor was also one of three officers involved in a fatal shooting in Downtown Austin in July 2019. During that deadly shooting, 46-year-old Mauris Nishanga DeSilva was believed to be experiencing a mental breakdown.
Taylor, along with two other officers and a mental health officer, were called to a condo building on Bowie Street when a caller said a neighbor was banging loudly on the emergency exit doors. DeSilva, who was believed to be a resident there, was initially seen outside with a butcher knife or large kitchen knife, which he was holding to his throat as he was walking around. When Taylor and the other officers found the man, Police Chief Brian Manley said body cam video shows DeSilva walk toward the officers with a knife at his side. That’s when two officers fired at him.
At the time of that shooting, Officer Taylor was assigned to the downtown area command.
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