Fort Worth police chief: 'No excuse' for Aaron Dean to shoot Atatiana Jefferson in her home

FORT WORTH, Texas – A white officer's fatal shooting of a black woman through a window in her home as she played video games with her nephew has "eroded the trust we have built with the community," Interim Police Chief Ed Kraus said Tuesday.

Officer Aaron Dean was arrested Monday evening on a murder charge and freed hours later on $200,000 bond. The charge was filed less than three days after Dean, who resigned from the force Monday, shot Atatiana Jefferson, 28, while responding to a neighbor's call that her door was open late at night.

Kraus said there was "absolutely no excuse" for the shooting and pleaded with the community not to let the actions of one officer reflect on the entire force of almost 1,700.

"We understand your frustration and disappointment," he said. "I, too, am frustrated and disappointed about what occurred, that officer's actions. We never want an officer response to a call to result in the loss of life."

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Authorities released an arrest warrant in which Jefferson's 8-year-old nephew says his aunt pointed a gun at the window after they heard suspicious noises outside.

There's no indication Dean could see the gun, and his bodycam video showed the view through the window obstructed by the reflection from his flashlight. The arrest warrant also cites Dean's partner as saying she could only see Jefferson's face through the window.

Kraus said the gun found in the room "made sense" if Jefferson was alarmed to hear someone walking around outside her bedroom window. He said the officers apparently believed they were responding to an "open structure" call – which could have meant the home was broken into – rather than a "welfare call" in which they check to make sure people in the home are safe.

Kraus became emotional when he said other officers in the department are "hurting" but support his quick action in the case. He compared their efforts to build relationships in the community to ants working on an anthill.

"Then somebody comes with a hose and washes it away, and they just have to start from scratch," Kraus said.

S. Lee Merritt, lawyer for the Jefferson family, chastised police for releasing information about the gun found in the room. He accused Kraus of providing a defense for Dean.

"The city of Fort Worth has much work to do to reform a brutal culture of policing," Merritt said.

Officers across the nation can avoid accountability by arguing that they felt threatened, Merritt said.

"There needs to be legislative change," he said. "They should not be afforded more protections than other citizens, they should be held to a higher standard, not a lower one."

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Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price said it was "irrelevant'' that Jefferson had a gun, which she had a right to possess at her house.

“Atatiana was in her own home, caring for her 8-year-old nephew. She was a victim,” Price said

Dean resigned Monday, but Kraus said he is considered dishonorably discharged from the department. The U.S. Justice Department will examine the case for possible civil rights violations, Kraus said.

Dean had responded to a nonemergency call to police at 2:23 a.m. Saturday from neighbor James Smith, who told the dispatcher it was "not normal" for his neighbors to have the doors open and lights on at that hour.

Two officers arrived six minutes later. Body camera video released by police shows officers, armed with guns and flashlights, circling the home. An officer stops at a window.

The video ends with an officer shouting, "Put your hands up, show me your hands" before the sound of one gunshot. Jefferson was killed with a bullet fired through her bedroom window. Police confirmed that Dean never identified himself as a police officer.

Family members expressed shock and sadness over the shooting. Lapaca Jefferson, 57, was in Houston attending an anti-violence meeting over the weekend when he received news that his niece had been killed by a police officer in her own home.

“The Jefferson family’s dreams have been shattered,” he said. “It’s a great shock.”

Jefferson said Atatiana was a loving, giving person who wanted to become a doctor to help people. “She was the one in her family who could really do good,” he said.

The shooting took place less than two weeks after former Dallas police officer Amber Guyger, who is white, was convicted of murdering Botham Jean, a black man shot in 2018 as he ate ice cream in his home.

"We are declaring war on bad policing," said Merritt, who also represents Jean's family. "We are furthering a war on brutality and lack of accountability."

Bacon reported from McLean, Virginia. Contributing: Kristin Lam, USA TODAY; The Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fort Worth shooting: Police condemn officer Aaron Dean