Video: Policeman shoots black woman dead in her own home
A black woman, Atatiana Jefferson, was fatally shot in her home on Saturday after a Fort Worth, Texas , police officer fired a shot into a bedroom window while performing a welfare check at her residence.
The shooting occurred less than two weeks after a police officer in nearby Dallas was found guilty of murder for fatally shooting a man in his home in 2018.
In both cases, the officers are white and the victims were African American.
It was reported that at around 2:00 a.m. (local time) on October 12, a neighbour of the 28-year-old Jefferson called a non-emergency hotline, saying he was concerned about an open door at the woman’s residence and wanted to make sure she was okay.
According to a statement released by the Fort Worth Police Department, officers arrived at the home at around 2:25 a.m., to respond to the report that the front door of Jefferson’s house had been left open.
The department said that while doing so, officers saw a person inside standing near a window.
“Perceiving a threat the officer drew his duty weapon and fired one shot striking the person inside the residence,” police said.
That person was Jefferson, who was shot while standing in a bedroom. After firing, officers entered the home and began providing emergency aid, but the woman was pronounced dead at the scene.
The department released body camera footage of the shooting on Saturday, showing what happened outside of Jefferson’s home as well as the residence itself, which had a door open and the lights on inside.
The video shows two officers walking around the outside of Jefferson’s home, looking into screen doors before walking into the backyard.
Moving towards a closed window on the first floor, one of the officers quickly points a flashlight at it before drawing his weapon.
He then yells, “Put your hands up! Show me your hands!” before firing a shot less than a second later.
At no point in the released video do the men clearly identify themselves as police officers.
In addition to the statement and the body camera video, the police department also released edited footage of a firearm officers said they found at the residence, but it did not offer any additional information about where Jefferson was in relation to it or if the weapon was ever visible to the officers.
