Police Shooting: Texas Woman Shot And Killed In Her Own Home

A white police officer in Fort Worth, Texas, on Saturday shot and killed a black woman in her own home.

Police had responded to a call from a neighbor reporting that the woman’s front door was open. The woman, Atatiana Jefferson, 28, had been standing inside near a window when the officer opened fire. The Tarrant County Medical Examiner confirmed that she died at 2:30 p.m. Sunday in her bedroom.

Following this incident, an edited, roughly two-minute version of the officer’s bodycam footage was released. It shows officers approaching the house with flashlights before eventually, one shouts, “Put your hands up! Show me your hands!” and fires into the window. The department confirmed that the officers then entered the house and attempted to provide Jefferson with medical treatment.

“The Fort Worth Police Department is releasing available body camera footage to provide transparent and relevant information to the public as we are allowed within the confines of the Public Information Act and forthcoming investigation,” the department said in an official statement.

Authorities have yet to release the name of the officer who shot and killed Jefferson. The officer, who joined the Fort Worth police in April, has been placed on administrative leave pending the results of an official investigation.

“I'm shaken. I'm mad. I'm upset. And I feel it's partly my fault," James Smith, the neighbor who made the initial call, told the Forth-Worth Telegram. “If I had never dialed the police department, she'd still be alive.”

According to CNN, this is the ninth police shooting committed by the Forth Worth police in 2019, with seven being fatal.

“Any loss of life is tragic, but the reported circumstances surrounding this incident are heartbreaking,” the Fort Worth Police Officers Association said in an official statement. “We are urging the Forth Worth Police Department to conduct a thorough and transparent investigation, and through that investigation we hope to gain clarity and understanding of what exactly transpired.”