The Texas police officer who resigned over his aggressive response to African-American teens at a pool party has blamed emotional duress for his behavior. Eric Casebolt stepped down after being caught on video wrestling an African-American teenage girl in a bikini to the ground, pulling her hair and sitting on top of her. Casebolt also pulled his gun on other teens. On Wednesday, Casebolt’s attorney said the officer had been distraught after responding to two suicide-related incidents earlier in the day. While offering an apology, Casebolt also put part of the blame on teens whom he said were being disorderly.

Jane Bishkin: “He believed that those who fled were possible suspects. He was not targeting minorities. In fact, he also detained a white female who you do not see on the video. His efforts to gather information was hampered by some teenagers who were instructing others to defy police instruction. He is apologizing that his conduct offended. He recognizes, and I think I said this, that he does recognize that his emotions got the best of him and that the prior suicide calls put him in an emotional place that he would prefer not to have been in when responding to this call.”