Updated 10/17/19:
In a tweet sent out by Fort Worth Police, the identity of the officer responsible for the death of Atatiana Jefferson was revealed as Aaron Dean. Dean has been charged with murder in the shooting death of a 28 year old woman who was playing video games with her 8 year old nephew.
Police said Dean had been with the Fort Worth Police Department since April 2018. Had he not resigned on his own, he would have been fired for violations of the department’s policies on use of force, de-escalation and unprofessional conduct in connection with the shooting, Fort Worth Police Chief Ed Kraus said Monday afternoon.
Washington Post
Dean is being held in Tarrant County Jail pending trial.
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Just this month, a former Texas Police Officer was sentenced to 10 years for murdering a man in his own apartment. Yesterday, a Fort Worth woman was shot and killed while inside her own home, by a police officer.
28 year old Atatiana Jefferson was shot and killed around 2:30am. A neighbor had called to police to report that her front door was open. Police officers responded and began searching the exterior of the home, with body cam footage showing one officer shining a light and pointing his firearm into windows.
The neighbor is now expressing remorse for even calling the police.
They tell you, ‘If you see something, say something,” Smith told the Star-Telegram. “Well, if you do that and you cause somebody to lose their life, it makes you not want to do that. And that’s sad.”…
“It makes you not want to call the police,”
The body cam footage shows the officer enter the backyard through a closed fence gate. There is a window on his left. Within seconds of entering the backyard he points the flashlight into the window along with his weapon and yells “put your hands up, show me your hands,” and then immediately fires one shot. The body cam footage is at the end of this post.
In a statement issued Saturday afternoon, Fort Worth police said the officer perceived a threat and fired. Officers found a firearm when they entered the bedroom, but it’s unclear whether Jefferson was holding the weapon when she was shot…
Dallas Morning News
It is not a crime to own a firearm. The police statement does not say that Atatiana pointed a firearm, brandished a firearm, or threatened with a firearm. All of that, generally speaking, would indicate a threat. She simply had a firearm in her bedroom.
Body cam footage shows the front door open, with a screen door closed. It does not show police knocking on the door to see who’s home or who might come to the door. It appears, from the footage available, they look into the front door and then begin walking the perimeter, at nearly 2:30 in the morning. They gave Atatiana less than 3 seconds to “put your hands up, show me your hands” before firing a shot, killing her through her own bedroom window.
The video also shows lights on throughout the house.
Police have not released the name of the Officer who shot and killed Atatiana. He has been with the force since April 2018.
The Tarrant County District Attorney will decide whether charges are to be filed.
