(Image source from: keranews.org)

A white former police officer has been sentenced to 15 years of imprisonment for murdering a barehanded, black 15-year-old boy in Dallas, Texas.

The verdict represents what is an extremely rare phenomenon - a murder conviction for a shooting involving an on-duty police officer.

Roy Oliver was fired from his job with the Balch Springs Police Department in the days after the high-profile 2017 shooting of Jordan Edwards. He faced up to life imprisonment and was sentenced on Wednesday night, a day after being convicted for murder.

The tribunal had heard how Jordan was killed while sat in the front passenger seat of a car packed with his friends as they left a house party in suburban Dallas.

Oliver and his partner had responded to reports of underage drinking at the party. When they arrived, Oliver fired into the car carrying Jordan and his friends, and later said he feared the vehicle was moving towards and endangering his partner.

Police initially said the vehicle reversed towards officers "in an aggressive manner", but later admitted that bodycam video showed the vehicle was moving forward as the officers approached.

Oliver's partner told jurors he didn't ever believe his life was in danger, while investigators said no guns were found in the vehicle.

When the verdict was read Tuesday, gasps echoed around the courtroom. Jordan's relatives sobbed and hugged prosecutors, waved their hands in the air and proclaimed "Thank you, Jesus!"

"I just want to say I'm happy, very happy," Jordan's father, Odell Edwards, said outside the courtroom. He said it had "been a long time" since he felt that way.

Oliver was acquitted on tow lesser charges of aggravated assault stemming from the shooting, by the jury, which featured two black members out of 12 jurors and two alternates.

It is highly uncommon for police officers to be tried and condemned for murder for shootings that took place while they are on duty. According to data compiled by criminologist and Bowling Green State University professor Phil Stinson, only six non-federal police officers have been convicted of murder in such cases - and four of those convictions were overturned - since 2005.

Jordan's father has also filed a civil lawsuit in connection to the shooting.

By Sowmya Sangam