Texas cop never ID’d himself as police before fatally shooting Atatiana Jefferson in her own home: Official
The officer in Forth Worth, Texas, was responding to a call, police said.
ByBill Hutchinson, Justin Doom, and Amanda Maile
Cop seen shooting, killing woman in her own homeA white police officer responding to a call at a home in Fort Worth, Texas, fired a shot into a bedroom window, striking and killing a 28-year-old black woman.
Fort Worth Police Department via AP
A white police officer responding to a call early Saturday for a welfare check at a home in Fort Worth, Texas, fired a shot into a bedroom window, striking and killing a 28-year-old black woman who a neighbor said was not a threat.
Relatives of the woman who was fatally shot identified her as Atatiana Jefferson, and said she worked as a human resources officer for a Fort Worth company and that she lived in the home with an 8-year-old nephew, Dallas ABC affiliate WFAA reported.
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During a news conference on Sunday afternoon, Fort Worth Police Lt. Brandon O’Neil said the officer who opened fire on Jefferson never identified himself as a police officer.
“What the officer observed and why he did not announce ‘police’ will be addressed as the investigation continues,” O’Neil said.
The NAACP released a statement on Twitter calling the fatal shooting of Jefferson “UNACCEPTABLE!”
“The acts of yet another ‘trained’ police officer have resulted in the death of #AtatianaJefferson Gun downed in her own home,” the NAACP wrote. “If we are not safe to call the police, if we are not safe in our homes, where can we find peace? We demand answers. We demand justice.”
James Smith, a neighbor, said the shooting unfolded after he called the non-emergency police number to report seeing the lights on and the front door open at Jefferson’s home. He said police arrived at the home around 2:30 a.m. without activating their lights and sirens.
“I called my police department for a welfare check,” Smith told WFAA. “No domestic violence, no arguing, nothing that they should have been concerned about as far as them coming with guns drawn to my neighbor’s house.”
Hearing the gunshot shocked him, he said.
“I don’t know what went on in that house, but I know she wasn’t a threat,” Smith said. “I’m still kind of broken and shocked. They tell me I shouldn’t feel bad. But I feel bad cause had I not called the police department, she would probably still be alive today.”
Civil rights attorney Lee Merritt said Jefferson’s “understandably heartbroken” relatives told him that Jefferson and her nephew were playing video games when they heard noises outside.
“She went to investigate at the window. An officer was on the other side who shouted commands and before she had a moment to respond, he shot her to death,” said Merritt, who also represents the family of Botham Jean, a 26-year-old black man shot to death in September 2018 by white former Dallas police officer Amber Guyger, who mistook Jean’s apartment for her own and wrongly suspected he was an intruder.
(MORE: Brother of Botham Jean hugs and forgives Amber Guyger after 10-year sentence imposed)
The Fort Worth Police Department did not release the name of the officer.
O’Neil said police received a call at 2:25 a.m. to respond to the home on East Allen Avenue. He said two officers arrived at the house at 2:29 am. and parked near Jefferson’s home, but not in front of the residence. He said the officers walked around the back of the house, and that one of the officers observed a person through the rear window of the home and opened fire.
Body-camera footage released by the department shows the officer approaching a rear window of the home with his gun drawn. The officer sees the woman through the window, shouts, “Put your hands up, show me your hands,” and fires one shot.
The video seems to confirm the officer never identified himself as police before he opened fire.
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The front door appears open in the body-camera footage, but a screen door looks to be closed in front of it. The officer doesn’t appear to knock.
“Perceiving a threat, the officer drew his duty weapon and fired one shot striking the person inside the residence,” a statement from the police department reads.
(MORE: Cop never ID’d himself as police before killing woman in her own home: Official)
Responding officers entered the home, located the shooting victim and began providing emergency care.
Jefferson died at the scene.
(MORE: Officers who killed Stephon Clark won’t face federal civil rights charges)
“An 8-year-old male, Ms. Jefferson’s nephew, was inside the room during this time,” O’Neil said.
O’Neil declined to answer questions from reporters, saying Police Chief Ed Kraus is scheduled to hold a news conference about the shooting on Monday.
He said the officer who shot Jefferson is scheduled to be interviewed on Monday by the department’s Major Case Unit investigators.
A firearm was recovered from the woman’s home, but police did not say where the gun was found in the house. The investigation is ongoing.
The officer, who’s been with the department since April 2018, has been placed on administrative leave.
Merritt set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for Jefferson’s funeral. As of Sunday afternoon, more than $81,000 had been raised.
(MORE: Family of black man killed in police-involved shooting sues city)
Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price released a statement saying the Police Chief Ed Kraus and his command staff “are acting with immediacy and transparency to conduct a complete and thorough investigation.”
She said the case will be turned over to the Tarrant County District Attorney Law Enforcement Incident Team to investigate the incident further.
“Writing a statement like this is tragic and something that should never be necessary,” Price said in her statement. “A young woman has lost her life, leaving her family in unbelievable grief. All of Fort Worth must surround Atatiana Jefferson’s family with prayers, love and support.”
New police bodycam video released from Pulse nightclub massacre
Published May 31, 2017 10:17pm CDT
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) – Newly-released video from bodycams on officers responding to a mass shooting at a Florida gay nightclub shows shattered glass inside the club, the sounds of automatic gunfire and an officer shouting to the gunman, “Come out with your hands up or you will die!”
The videos were released Wednesday to FOX 35.
The 11 hours of video show Pulse patrons running from the club and officers shouting, “Just go!” as they direct them across the street.
In another video, an officer off camera inside the club checks for the pulse of a patron only to announce the victim is dead. Later, an officer realizes that the massacre is an act of terrorism.
“It’s terrorism in Orlando,” the Orlando Police officer said of the gunman. “He pledged something to the Islamic State.”
Forty-nine patrons were killed during last June’s massacre and dozens more were injured in the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history. Gunman Omar Mateen was killed in a shootout with officers after a three-hour standoff. He had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group during phone calls with police negotiators.
Some bodycam footage shows Pulse patrons being checked for weapons by officers after escaping the club with their hands up. Other footage shows an officer leading a patron out of a bathroom and down a hallway.
“Follow the sound of my voice. Come this way,” the officer said.
One club patron was found crouched hiding in a shed and was hesitant to come out of it. “We’re police, man. Come on. Get out!” an officer said.
Bodycam video of Texas officer killing neo-Nazi mass shooter released
by The Associated PressThu, June 29, 2023 at 7:04 AM
People hold hands as they pray at a memorial for victims of the Allen Premium Outlets mass shooting, Tuesday, May 9, 2023, in Allen, Texas. (ElÃas Valverde II/The Dallas Morning News via AP)
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ALLEN, Texas (AP) — Police released video footage on Wednesday of an officer killing a neo-Nazi gunman, quickly ending a mass shooting that left eight people dead and seven others wounded at a Dallas-area shopping mall.
The edited five-and-a-half-minute video details the final moments of Mauricio Garcia, 33, after he unleashed a rain of bullets from an AR-15-style rifle at the Allen Premium Outlets on May 6.
Those killed included three members of a Korean American family including a 3-year-old child, two young sisters, a security guard and an engineer from India.
Police haven’t revealed a motive for the attack.
The shooting came in a year that has seen an unprecedented pace of mass killings.
The footage from a body camera worn by an Allen police officer starts off with the officer telling two children outside the mall to wear their seatbelts and be good.
Moments later, the sound of rapid gunfire erupts from the mall. The children and a woman with them run away as the officer radios in the report, grabs his rifle from his car and dashes toward the gunfire, the body camera footage shows.
As he runs, the panting officer shouts at people to move and get out. At one point, he tells the dispatcher, “I believe we’ve got a mass shooter” and shouts at the gunman to drop his weapon.
Sara Tabatabaie wipes away a tear at a memorial outside an entrance to the parking lot of the mall a day after a mass shooting at Allen Premium Outlets on Sunday, May 7, 2023, in Allen, Texas. (Smiley N. Pool/The Dallas Morning News via AP)
“I’m passing injured (people),” he adds.
The officer continues to run through the outside galleries of the outlet as the sound of gunfire bursts continues. About four minutes into the video, the officer opens fire with at least a half-dozen shots.
An instant later, the officer shouts: “Drop the gun!” and then reports: “I’ve got him down!”
Another officer then confirms the gunman is dead.
The video ends with the two officers standing next to the gunman’s body, which is blurred out.
The video was released a day after a grand jury cleared the officer of wrongdoing, indicating that “the use of force was justified under Texas law,” according to a police statement.
In the statement, Allen Police Chief Brian Harvey praised the officer.
This video shows how quickly a routine interaction with the public turned into a life-and-death situation,” Harvey said. “The officer recognized the danger, ran toward the gunfire and neutralized the threat — and for his actions, the Allen community is forever grateful.”
Three members of a Korean American family were killed: Kyu Song Cho, 37; Cindy Cho, 35; and their 3-year-old son, James Cho. Their 6-year-old son was wounded.
People place flowers and pay their respects at a memorial for victims of the Allen Premium Outlets mass shooting, Tuesday, May 9, 2023, in Allen, Texas. (ElÃas Valverde II/The Dallas Morning News via AP)
Also killed were Aishwarya Thatikonda, 27; sisters Daniela Mendoza, 11, and Sofia Mendoza, 8; security guard Christian LaCour, 20; and Elio Cumana-Rivas, 32.
Garcia used one of eight legally purchased guns he had brought to the mall, authorities said.
The killer had no criminal record. An Army official told The Associated Press that Garcia failed to complete basic training about 15 years earlier and was kicked out for mental health reasons. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss personnel matters.
Garcia left a long trail of online posts describing his white supremacist and misogynistic views. He described mass shootings as sport and posted photos showing his large Nazi tattoos and a favorite passage in the “Hunger Games” books marked with a swastika drawn in green highlighter.
He was Latino, and he posted one cartoon image showing a Latino child at a fork in a road, with one direction labeled “act black” and the other, “become a white supremacist.”
