CHICAGO: The police officer who pulled out a gun at a Texas pool party of unarmed black teenagers has resigned over the latest videotaped case raising questions about use of force in law enforcement.
McKinney Police Chief Greg Conley deplored Eric Casebolt’s “indefensible” actions, in announcing his resignation.
Officials in the city some 30 miles (50 kilometers) north of Dallas had earlier said they put the officer on leave.
“Our policies, our training, our practice do not support his actions,” Conley told reporters.
“He came into the call out of control and as the video shows, was out of control during the incident.”
Video filmed by one of the teens and later posted on YouTube shows Casebolt shouting obscenities at the youths as he orders them to lie on the ground.
Conley said officers responded to a disturbance on Friday.
In a chaotic scene in which youths can be seen running around the pool area to evade the police, Casebolt can be seen throwing a girl to the ground in her bathing suit and pinning her down, then pulling out his gun as two black male teens approach, apparently to try to help her.
Authorities launched a probe after becoming aware of the existence of the video, which went viral and was replayed repeatedly on US news broadcasts.
“The actions of any one individual do not define our community as a whole,” Mayor Brian Loughmiller stressed.
The past year has seen numerous cases that have raised concerns about excessive and sometimes lethal police force in black communities across the United States. -AFP