White cop who shot Black woman through her bedroom window in Forth Worth on Saturday, ‘acted as if responding to burglary, not welfare check’ – Family cries out for justice as killer cop resigns
Officer in shooting acted as if responding to burglary, not welfare check, Law and Police expert says
Bodycam footage of Saturday’s deadly shooting shows officer at the back of house, appears to see a figure through a dark window, and he quickly twists his body to the left
“Put your hands up! Show me your hands!” he shouts through the window, his gun drawn. He then fires a single shot through the window as he says “hands,” giving no time for a response
Homeowner Atatania Jefferson, 28, was fatally hit fired by the yet unidentified cop
The a premed graduate of Xavier University, was playing video games with her 8-year-old nephew inside a bedroom in her family home at the time
In the video, the officer, who is shining a light through the window, does not identify himself as police.
“It’s difficult to imagine that the officer goes sneaking around a house on a welfare check,” Law professor Mike Benza says
“It’s hard to justify that based on what the neighbor said. This was not a 911 call; the neighbor said he called the non-emergency line. So this officer seems to be handling it more of a breaking and entering with a suspect versus a ‘my neighbor’s door is open’ call”
Rookie Aaron Dean, the white cop who shot dead Jefferson through the window of her home while performing a wellness check on Saturday night, resigned on Monday
Dean quit as the Fort Worth Police Department prepared to fire him
“Put your hands up! Show me your hands!” seconds before he then fires a single shot through the window as he says “hands,” giving no time for a response. The whole incident was captured by bodycam
Forth Worth police apparently are caught in a bind confirming that an officer was being threatened by a gun which allegedly was discovered in a Forth worth home after the police officer shot and killed a young woman, through a window, early on Saturday.
Forth Worth PD said they found a gun in the bedroom but have not answered a question of where in the room it was found, or the proximity to the victim at the time, What is more how an officer who was not close enough to make out the scenario could have spotted the gun
During a press conference on Sunday, when asked by a reporter if the officer who shot Atatania Jefferson was threatened with a gun, police Lt. Brandon O’Neil couldn’t answer. Asked by the same reporter why police would release images of the gun if they can’t answer that question, O’Neil said he didn’t want to discuss information that would be released during another press conference scheduled for sometime on Monday. Meanwhile Aaron Dean, the white police officer who shot dead a 28-year-old Atatania Jefferson, a black woman, through the window of her home while performing a wellness check on Saturday night, resigned on Monday as the Fort Worth Police Department prepared to fire him
Aaron Dean, the white cop who shot dead a 28-year-old black woman through the window of her home while performing a wellness check on Saturday night, resigned Monday
Now a law and policing expert, describing the actions of the officer when he walked through the backyard of the house on Allen Avenue early Saturday, mirrored those of an officer investigating a burglary.
Significant because, the person who asked police to go the house told dispatchers he just wanted an officer to check on his neighbor because her front door was open.
According to The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, who asked Mike Benza, a senior instructor from the Case Western Reserve University School of Law in Cleveland, to review all of the information that police have released regarding the fatal shooting of Atatiana Jefferson to get a better understanding of what happened at around 2:30 a.m., when officers responded to her house in the 1200 block of East Allen Avenue. The line of inquiry here Benza says is uncovering why the officer was acting like he was going to a burglary report, as against a wellness check.
Why was the officer acting like he was going to a burglary report, when he was called in for a welfare check on Atatania Jefferson [photo], on Saturday?
It’s important to know what information the officers were given because Benza said officers who are going to a burglary call should react much differently than if they’re checking on someone’s welfare.
After watching the portion of body camera footage police released, Benza said, “The welfare check from the neighbor happened because of an open front door, but it doesn’t appear the officer is near the open door.”
“The question is what is he actually doing?” Benza added. “It’s hard to see but it looks like he’s in the side yard or backyard of this house, so I’m not sure exactly what it was he was doing in the moments that led up to this shooting.”
Police released on Sunday the 311 call Smith made. He told the operator “I’m calling about my neighbor” and then told her “the front doors have been open since about 10 o’clock, I haven’t seen anybody moving around. It’s not normal for them to have both of the doors open.”
He told the operator that he doesn’t know if anyone is inside the house, but that both cars are in the driveway.
James Smith wonders why his call in to a non-emergency line for a wellness check on his neighbor was turned into a fatal shooting incident by Forth Worth police
Killer cop Aaron Dean [photo], and another officer were called to Atatiana Jefferson’s home on Saturday by a neighbor who noticed that the door was open at around 2.30am Saturday. He allegedly shot her without identifying himself as police or giving her time to respond to his command
Speaking hours after the shooting on Saturday, Smith observed that on Saturday when the officers go to the home, they didn’t park in front of it. Jefferson wouldn’t have been able to see the patrol vehicles were parked, that from where they were parked, he said.
The officers also didn’t identify themselves as police – Body-worn camera video shows two officers using flashlights to check the perimeter of the house, inspecting two doors that are open with closed screen doors.
The lights inside the home are on but no one is visible inside. The officers don’t say anything or knock on either of the doors. They quietly walk around the house, even shining a light in at least one of the cars parked in the driveway before opening the wooden fence gate leading to what appears to be the backyard.
“Put your hands up! Show me your hands!” he shouts through the window, his gun drawn. He then fires a single shot through the window as he says “hands,” giving no time for a response.
In the video, the officer, who is shining a light through the window, does not identify himself as police.
“It’s difficult to imagine that the officer goes sneaking around a house on a welfare check,” Benza said. “It’s hard to justify that based on what the neighbor said. This was not a 911 call; the neighbor said he called the non-emergency line. So this officer seems to be handling it more of a breaking and entering with a suspect versus a ‘my neighbor’s door is open’ call.”
But despite that, Benza pointed out that the officer goes from shouting “show me your hands” to instantly firing his weapon — which he doesn’t think is enough time for an officer to even process whether someone is a threat.
According to a call log, officers were dispatched at 2:25 a.m. They arrived at 2:29 a.m. A “person down” call was made to MedStar at 2:36 a.m. When MedStar arrived, officers were giving Jefferson CPR.
Big question: Where exactly was the gun located which police said they found in the bedroom, relative to the victim. Cops have yet to explain the circumstances of the alleged firearms discovery in the home
‘This man murdered someone, he should be arrested’ – The victim’s brother Darius Carr [photo], who has served in the military for the past 12 years, says the cop who killed his sister did not follow his own training.
When asked by a reporter if the officer who shot Jefferson was threatened with a gun, police Lt. Brandon O’Neil couldn’t answer. Asked by the same reporter why police would release images of the gun if they can’t answer that question, O’Neil said he didn’t want to discuss information that would be released during another press conference scheduled for sometime on Monday.
The latest incident of a police officer shooting and killing a homeowner inside their own homes in around the Dallas area of Texas has community activists calling for additional training for officers.
Law and police expert Mike Benza agrees that police training should be scrutinized more: “Part of the problem is we overestimate the training we give our officers,” he said. “We think they’re highly skilled and trained but they’re learning so much in that period of time. They’re not actually getting the in-depth type of training we think they have.”
Police said the officer who shot Jefferson joined the department in April 2018. His identity has not been released. He is scheduled to be interviewed by the department’s Major Case Unit on Monday.
Atatiana Jefferson was playing video games with Nephew when she was fatally shot through a bedroom window by Forth Worth cop on Saturday night
Jefferson worked in pharmaceutical equipment sales, Merritt wrote Saturday on Facebook.
“Before law enforcement goes about their pattern of villainizing this beautiful peaceful woman, turning her into a suspect, a silhouette, or threat, let me tell you about [her,]” Merritt wrote. “She was a premed graduate of Xavier University. She was very close to her family. She was the auntie that stayed up on Friday night playing video games with her 8 year old nephew.”
“Her mom had recently gotten very sick, so she was home taking care of the house and loving her life. There was no reason for her to be murdered. None. We must have justice,” Merritt wrote.
speaking at a press conference on Monday, Atatiana’s brother Darius Carr said that in the 12 years he’s been in the military, he’s been extensively trained in how to respond to specific situations, alleging that the officer who killed his sister did not follow his own training.
‘When you don’t do things the way you’ve been trained and taught, you have to answer for that,’ Darius Carr said. ‘You know better.’
‘This man murdered someone, he should be arrested,’ he added fighting back the tears.
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