Fort Worth Officer Charged With Murder After Black Woman Shot in Her Home
A Fort Worth, Texas, police officer, Aaron Dean, has been charged with murder after the fatal shooting of a black woman in her home in the early hours of October 12.
Atatiana Jefferson was shot as police responded to a neighbor’s report that the woman’s front door was open, according to police.
Officers searched the perimeter of the house and “observed a person standing inside the residence near a window,” a police statement read. One of the police officers “perceived a threat” and opened fire, killing the woman inside the premises. A gun was found inside the house.
The officer has been with the police department since April 2018 and was placed on administrative leave “pending the outcome [of] the critical police incident investigation.”
Later on October 12, Fort Worth Police Department released a video showing the moments before the incident. In the two-minute video, an officer walks outside the home with a flashlight turned on, and approaches a window. The officer then shouts “Put your hands up! Show me your hands!” and shoots his weapon through a window.
The Tarrant County Medical Examiner identified the woman as 28-year-old Atatiana Koquice Jefferson. Credit: Fort Worth Police Department via Storyful