Former Officer Roy Oliver takes the stand in his own murder trial

DALLAS - Former Balch Springs Officer Roy Oliver took the stand in his own defense Thursday. He’s accused of murdering 15-year-old Jordan Edwards as he was leaving a party.

Jurors heard from Oliver immediately after the state rested its case. Defense attorney Bob Gill told them what happened to Jordan last April was a tragedy for the family, the community and the police.

Oliver detailed the events on the night of the fatal shooting. When asked if he felt the party that he was called to was a dangerous situation he replied, “No, not at all.”

But Oliver said as he and his partner were checking the house when they heard gunshots. Afterward, he described a chaotic scene with people screaming as they were running. He was concerned they were running towards the gunfire.

Oliver said he noticed his partner’s tense reaction to the car Jordan and his friends were riding in. He said he was following his partner’s pace and felt he was there to protect him.

“I look up to see exactly where he is at. He is focused on one vehicle. He is walking at a decent pace towards this car, yelling at the top of his lungs,” Oliver said. “I thought he had located the shooter or shooters.”

Oliver said despite his partner’s orders to stop, the driver of the car kept moving away from them. He said he couldn’t see anything more than silhouettes moving in the vehicle because of the lighting and tinted windows.

“The vehicle came to a stop for a slight moment and then accelerated forward,” Oliver said. “It came forward towards my partner and as it was gaining ground towards him I had to make a decision. This car is about to hit my partner. There are threats inside the car. And when lethal force is being presented towards us, I had no other option but to use lethal force.”

Oliver described later helping another officer take Jordan’s two brothers and two friends into custody. He said when he saw the blood and realized a teenager was dead, he felt sick and like he had been punched in the gut.

“It’s sickening. I mean, this was a bad situation that got turned worse by the second,” he said. “People all around that could have prevented this whole… it’s just a very gut-wrenching experience and knowing that you were forced into a position to take a life it’s… words cannot describe that.”

Oliver said his heart sank and from then on it was hard to breathe.

“You just stop feeling all the way around,” he said.

“Were you trying to kill or seriously injure the driver of that car?” Prosecutor Mike Snipes asked Oliver during cross examination.

“We were,” Oliver said. “I was trying to stop the threat of the vehicle.”

“Did you shoot this young man in the back of the head?” Snipes asked while holding up a picture of Jordan.

“That’s what I later discovered, sir,” Oliver said.

Oliver also answered questions about his childhood and military experience. He was deployed to Iraq and ultimate hit by one IED and one anti-truck explosive before coming home and starting his police career.

“Probably within 24 hours of being there, we were taking mortar attacks,” he said.

The defense is hoping Oliver can connect with some of the jurors by sharing his hard-knock-life story.

There was lots of other testimony in cross examination about other things Oliver has done or is accused of doing

A Harris County Sheriff’s Office captain and certified use of force expert hired by the defense told jurors Oliver’s actions that night were reasonable.

The trial will resume Friday morning.

Follow FOX 4's Shaun Rabb on Twitter for live updates from the trial.