[This post has been updated.]
McKinney police officer Eric Casebolt, a corporal with the department's patrol division, has been placed on administrative leave after a video surfaced showing the officer manhandling a 15-year-old girl outside a pool party Friday night.
McKinney police Chief Greg Conley said Sunday afternoon that a formal investigation was launched into the officer's actions after officials saw the video Saturday evening.
Conley declined to say what specific behavior in the video led to the investigation. He also did not say how many years the officer has been on the McKinney police force.
"We are committed to preserving the peace and safety of our community," Conley said.
Officers responded to a disturbance around 7:15 p.m. Friday at a community pool in the northern section of the expansive Craig Ranch subdivision. Residents and a private security officer called police to complain that several teenagers did not have permission to use the pool and had refused to leave, police said. The pool is part of the residential community.
Several people complained that the teenagers had started fighting. Three officers arrived and found a large, rowdy crowd. The department dispatched nine additional officers to respond to the incident, Conley said.
"Any time you confront a large group of people, it's a very dynamic situation and tensions can rise very quickly," he said.
The video shows officers, many using profanities, seemingly only targeting black teenagers who were at the pool. The officer who was placed on leave can be seen forcing one of the teenagers, a 15-year-old girl, to the ground and pulling her hair. Conley did not say whether those teenagers lived in the community.
About a dozen people attended a press conference Sunday at the McKinney Police Department. Several expressed frustration that the officers in the video seemed to target only the black children at the pool party. Many said that it's another example of racism in the city, about 40 miles north of Dallas.
About 75 percent of McKinney residents are white, and about 10 percent are black, according to 2010 census data.
McKinney Mayor Brian Loughmiller said that he expects city staff and police officials to quickly conduct an investigation into the officer's actions.
"Having seen the YouTube video, I am disturbed and concerned by the incident and actions depicted in the video," Loughmiller said in a written statement. "Our expectation as a City Council is that our police department and other departments will act professionally and with appropriate restraint relative to the situation they are faced with."
Screenshot from video shows officer pointing gun at two unarmed black teenagers.
In the video, the officer can be heard yelling, "On your face," as he pushed the girl to the ground. As he leans on the girl, he points to others standing nearby and yells, "Get out of here, or you're going to jail." The incident can be seen around the 3 minute mark of the profanity-laced video.
At one point, the cop turns on two black teenagers and pulls out what appears to be a gun, pointing it at them. Two other officers intervene before the officer turns back to the teenage girl. He is also seen pulling her hair.
The video also shows several teenagers sitting on the grass with their hands cuffed behind their backs while the officer pushed the girl to the ground. Conley said the 15-year-old girl was released to her parents. No other teenagers were arrested. One adult, who was not identified, was arrested for interfering in the police investigation, Conley said.
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