White officer fatally shoots black woman inside her own home after a neighbor called authorities because her front door was open
The unidentified officer in Fort Worth fatally shot Atatiana Koquice Jefferson inside her own home on Saturday morning
Officers arrived at Jefferson’s home after a neighbor reported seeing lights on and her front door open around 2.25am
Bodycam footage captured the moment the police officer investigated the perimeters of Jefferson’s home before he saw a person standing near a window inside the home and fired his gun
28 -year-old Jefferson succumbed to her injuries and died at the scene
The officer has been placed on administrative leave while the incident is being investigated, enraging community members who are calling for police reform
Victim: Home owner Atatiana Koquice Jefferson [photo] was fatally shot by an unidentified white police officer inside her home in Forth Worth, Texas on Saturday morning
A white police officer in Texas fatally shot a black woman inside her home after officers were called to do a welfare check, according to authorities.
Atatiana Koquice Jefferson, 28, of Fort Worth was killed by an unidentified police officer with the Fort Worth Police Department on Saturday morning.
62-year-old James Smith, Jefferson’s neighbor, called the local non-emergency number after he noticed her front door was open and lights were on around 2.25am.
He knew Jefferson was supposed to be home with her 8-year-old nephew.
Firing through a window, an officer with the Fort Worth police Dept. fatally shot a black woman inside her home early Saturday after police were called to the house because its doors were open, according to police and the neighbor who summoned them.
The home owner Atatiana Jefferson died in a bedroom, according to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Officers responded at 2:25 a.m. to the house in the 1200 block of East Allen Avenue. 62-year-old James Smith, who called a non-emergency police number, said he saw the doors were open and the lights were on, which struck him as unusual. He knew Jefferson, his neighbor, was home with her 8-year-old nephew.
Police parked around the corner, and the woman could not see them, according to Smith. About 15 minutes later, he said, he heard a loud bang and saw several more officers rush inside
A peeved Smith told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram: ‘I’m shaken. I’m mad. I’m upset. And I feel it’s partly my fault.
‘If I had never dialed the police department, she’d still be alive.’
Fifteen minutes after authorities arrived to the scene, Smith her a gun shot and watched several officers rush Jefferson’s home.
According to a statement from authorities, officers responded to Smith’s call and arrived to the 1200 block of East Allen Avenue.
In police bodycam footage that has been released, the officer is seen walking around the perimeters of the home and looking through windows inside the residence.
Bodycam footage released by Forth Worth Police Dept after a woman was shot inside her own home by an officer on Saturday morning
At one point the officer pulls out a flashlight when he approaches a dark area of the house and appears to gain entrance into her backyard.
Seconds later the officer looks inside a dark window, draws his gun and yells, ‘put your hands up! Show me your hands!’
He then opens fire on the victim almost immediately.
The would be shooter officer while searching the home’s exterior, appears to gain entrance into Jefferson’s backyard and uses a flashlight to inspect the surroundings
From the bodycam footage, the officer noticing a figure inside the home, says to the figure ‘put your hands up’.However, he immediately open’s fire, fatally hitting her.
Authorities say the officer perceived a threat and after firing his weapon went inside the home to administer emergency care.
The statement says officers found a firearm, but it was not revealed if Jefferson was anywhere near the weapon at the time of the incident.
Jefferson succumbed to her injuries and died at the scene.
Police report allege a firearm was found inside Jefferson’s home. However, it was not revealed whether the weapon was near her at the time of the officer opened fire, killing the homeowner
The police shooting victim Atatania Jefferson [photo], received medical treatment from on-site officers, but succumbed to her injuries at the scene
The officer, who began his work with the department in April 2018, has been placed on administrative leave following the incident.
The Fort Worth Police Major Crime unit, Internal Affairs and the Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney’s Law Enforcement Incident Team are conducting an investigation into the shooting.
The department ended their statement by expressing their sadness over the violent incident.
‘The Fort Worth Police Department shares the deep concerns of the public and is committed to completing an extremely thorough investigation of this critical police incident to its resolution.’
Jefferson’s body is removed by EMTs [photo] after she was shot inside her home at the 1200 block of East Allen Avenue in Fort Worth, Texas early Saturday morning
The press release from police details the tragic encounter between homeowner Jefferson and the officer
Smith is heartbroken over Jefferson’s death.
‘It makes you not want to call the police department,’ he told Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
‘If you don’t feel safe with the police department, then who do you feel safe with? Do you just ignore crime or ignore something that’s not right?’
‘They tell you, ‘If you see something, say something. …Well, if you do that and it costs somebody to lose their life, it makes you not want to do that. And that’s sad.’
Community members are outraged over Jefferson’s sudden death and are calling for action.
Pastor Michael Bell of the Greater St. Stephen First Church laid bare his criticisms of the police department statements, according to WFAA reporter Cleo Greene.
Bell said in the Twitter video: ‘We’re tied of police lying. Ain’t no perceived threat unless it’s black folk. Just our presence…are we the threat?’
‘Let’s tell it what it is,’ one community member said in a separate video, ‘she was massacred in her own house.’
‘Don’t let this rest…where we get all up in arms for about two or three weeks and we go back to business as usual.
‘We are still being murdered by the police. Something has to be done and done right away.’
According to Forth Worth PD, the investigation is ongoing.
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