HOUSTON (AP) — Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas says he wishes Democrats weren't "so quick to always blame the police officer" after challenger Beto O'Rourke suggested that a white officer who shot and killed a black neighbor should be fired.

Cruz told Houston television station KRIV on Saturday that the Sept. 6 shooting of 26-year-old Botham Jean may be something worse than a "horrific misunderstanding" but cautioned against early conclusions.

Dallas police officer Amber Guyger has told investigators she mistook Jean's apartment for her own and thought she encountered a burglar.

Cruz is in a competitive race against O'Rourke. His comments were in response to an O'Rourke interview with Dallas television station KDFW , in which the Democrat was asked whether Guyger should be fired.

O'Rourke said he didn't "understand how anyone can come to any other conclusion."

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