The family of a Dallas police officer accused of shooting dead an unarmed black schoolboy claim he is the 'perfect father figure' who may have been suffering from PTSD when he opened fire.
The Dallas County District Attorney's Office is deciding whether to bring charges against the Iraq veteran who was fired this week amid a national outcry and calls for him to be arrested for the high school freshman's murder.
Oliver's family, however, have spoken out in his defense, suggesting the divorced father to a baby boy and girl, both aged one, would never recklessly endanger the life of kids.
'He's a wonderful family man and father. He has two precious little ones himself,' Oliver's mother Linda Oliver, 64, told DailyMail.com in an exclusive interview.
'He is very honorable, very community driven. He was raised to consider more than just himself, to think about the community, and I've very proud of him and the choices he's made.
'As a mother I have compassion for the family and the loss of their child. It's just tragic. I retired from educating so I could have easily had him as a student at one point.'
Mrs Oliver, who now runs a craft retreat providing lodging and studio space for artists, urged people to 'withhold judgment at this point until everything is out.'
She added: 'Other than that I really can't say much.' Edwards was at a house party with his brothers Vidal and Kevon and two friends in Balch Springs, 15 miles east of downtown Dallas, when gunshots suddenly rang out in the street at around 11pm. ... According to family, Oliver, known to pals as Woodie, was previously a reserve firefighter who wanted to get into policing because he was interested in investigating arson.
DailyMail.com can reveal his two children were born to two separate mothers within the space of 12 days. His ex-wife Amy Michelle, 39, gave birth to a girl named Alexa on July 3, 2015 while another woman, described by family as Oliver's current girlfriend, had a boy, Tab, on July 15.